Punishment Not
by ForeverPrastonian
Summary: Not FrostIron. Changed to Tragedy from Friendship: What was intended to be a punishment turns out to be the best gift they could have. . . .
1. Asgardian Arrival

Exactly after where the movie lets off . . . basically.

Hope you like it!

* * *

**3****rd**** Person**

Upon their rocky landing on the broken Rainbow Bridge in Asgard the two are met by a small group of highly trained Asgardian warriors. Odin watches on from his seat atop his horse as a few of the warriors quickly grab hold of Loki and put him in more restraints to prevent him from using his magic and escaping. Thor follows his father back into Asgard while the warriors flank around Loki and lead him behind the other two gods.

Thos and his father go down to the vault so that Thor may store the Tesseract in a safer place while the warriors lock Loki away in his new cell a safe distance away. Odin and Thor talk about the possible date for Loki's trial and other such details while the person-of-topic is swiftly locked away in a super max security cell that restrains the use of magic. All of Loki's restraints, including the muzzle that had been attached onto him back on Earth have been removed as they lock him away.

Loki anxiously paces around the small 10 X 10 cell that he has been placed in as he ponders what happened back on Earth. The small cell has barren, white, stone walls that are as solid as can be, there's a small metallic shelve with a "bed" that takes up one whole wall and is barely even twin-sized, a small bathroom area is walled off next to the door, and the single wall that barely divides the bathroom area from the room has holes in it to imitate shelving.

He despises the place but knows that escape is futile. He paces around, thinking about anything and everything; pondering vengeance, wondering where he went wrong, should he give up or should he continue on with revenge; all these thoughts, questions, wonderings swirl inside his mind restlessly as he paces on.

Thor feels that Loki's problem is simply that he has everything all wrong and he hopes that Loki will see light inside his cell. He still considers Loki his brother even after everything that happened just as Odin still considers Loki his son after it all. They both agree upon leaving Loki in the cell for an extended amount of time in hope of him realizing the truth. The visit Loki once a day as well so that they can try to get it through Loki's mind that they still care for and love him.

As Loki paces in his cell he loses track of time; when he grows to weary he lays down on the thin mattress in the cold room and sleeps as best he can, when he gives up on sleeping he gets back up and continues to pace; it's a never-ending cycle. Even when Odin and Thor visit it is the same thing; he continues to pace as they speak to him through the glass of the door and though he quiets his thoughts so that he may indeed hear what they have to say to him and he mulls over their words later, he still never quits his cycle.

The only time he quits his cycle though is when food is brought to him. A tiny tray of food is pushed through a small opening on the bottom of the door and a small cup of water and pushed in after the tray is taken back. Loki always quickly eats his food and swallows down the water in large gulps because it is always such a small amount and meals are so far and few; he is starving by the time it is given to him. This treatment of Loki escapes Thor and Odin. Loki's clothes betray the starving figure that lies beneath them, he is always moving too much for them to see it in his face, in his eyes, and he never voices it to them. The guards continue to lie about it and even when Odin tries to order more rations for Loki in fear of him starving the guards only steal the food before it ever reaches Loki's line of sight.

Loki hates it here.

* * *

Review? It's the only thing that tells me to keep posting. The only motivation to keep on writing and put up more chapters . . . reviews. . . . Sad, isn't it?

I actually respond to reviews in the next chapter. Swear I will. Ask me anything, I'll tell you my answer. I swear it. I actually will. I am a very open person (when questioned). Try me. Honest answers to time taken to ask asked questions. Seriously.


	2. The Verdict

**3****rd**** Person – Loki**

Loki hates it here.

He hates the cell.

He hates the guards that steal his food and tell him about it.

He hates the white walls.

He hates the quietness and the solitude.

All he ever does any more is sit on his bed and stare.

No more pacing.

No more swirling thoughts.

No more hunger.

Loki hates it here.

Loki has had so little food (the guards steal more and more with each day) that now he no longer even feels hungry. All he does is sit and stare at the other end of his bed. He sits slumped over, back against the wall, while one leg hangs off the bed, his hands rest in his lap, and his head he can barely keep off his chest.

Odin and Thor quickly became worried. The guards tell them that he is not eating and lately it has become true, after all, no longer is Loki well enough to even move too. Thor wants someone he trusts to make sure Loki gets his food but Odin just shakes his head.

"It is time, Son." Odin says to Thor. "Time for the trial. Time for the verdict. Loki has been here for far too long."

* * *

The courtroom fills up quickly with Asgardians. They all want to see what will happen to the son of Odin. What decision would be decided upon for Loki Odinson, as they knew him, is what they wonder about.

All the other important people featuring in the trial file in to their respective spots before Odin and Thor make their appearances. Loki with his restraints back on, is, literally, dragged in and sat down in a chair. Everyone in the room quickly hushed after that and the trial began in its usual manor.

Loki sits through the whole thing in total silence. Not once does he try to plead or explain himself; not once. He is too weak to speak or even move. He passes out half way through and no one notices; not even Odin or his brother Thor notice.

Loki is jolted back into consciousness by a loud bang of Odin's scepter as he calls the audiences' attention into focus. Even though Loki is jolted into awareness it is simply mentally as he is too weak to really jolt.

Odin wouldn't have even noticed anyways. He tries hard not to look at his adopted son as he clears his throat to give out the verdict.

"Loki, son of Odin," (he had told none the truth of Loki's heritage and knew Loki too weak to correct him) "you are herby found guilty of your crimes in this Asgardian court and shall be punished in accordance to Asgardian law." He takes a deep breath; he hates the idea, knowing that it is a horrible one. "You shall be banished from Asgard and stripped of all your powers as well as the armor that protects you."

The room fills with murmurs of mixed reactions. Approval and disapproval fill the room with a buzz and the question on everyone's lips is voiced loudly by a single, brave, Asgardian.

"Why is he not killed?"

The room is filled with a hush as Odin and Thor scan for the person responsible for the voicing. When they have no such luck finding him Odin sighs quietly before, obviously, reciting the reason given to him.

"Death would not be suitable as it involves no real torture. Loki will live as a mortal so that he may properly learn and repent for his misdeeds. Death would be too quick and easy a punishment for him."

Odin feels that at this point in time Loki would be better off dead. But he does not voice it because his reason for thinking that is for Loki's sake; his well being; not as a punishment.

More things are said as the buzz starts up again, louder this time, within the room. Shouts are heard but not understood as it nears a roar. Odin bangs the bottom of his scepter down once more and booms loudly, "ENOUGH!" The loud bang and the boom of his voice are enough to quiet the audience. Thor walks up to his father and questions him too quietly for anyone else in the room to hear.

"Father, where to will he be banished? No place is a good idea. His crimes on Midgard were committed because of his plotting on another world; in another realm. Is there no other appropriate punishment for him?" Thor questions quietly; worried for his brother and as well as the outrage they could easily end up facing from the surrounding Asgardians.

"He will be sent with you back to Earth, my son. That is how it will be taken care of. I am sure he has a court there to attend and face trial. That is where his real punishment will be decided upon, my son. " Odin says, hoping that Thor catches on quick enough; which he does.

He catches on quickly and realizes what his father is attempting to suggest. He nods his head and goes to Loki as Odin announces that the place of banishment is Midgard so that the people there may make Loki pay for his crimes committed there as well. This announcement seems to please the crowd as ripples of approval are murmured throughout the room. Loki barely hears any of it.

Loki hates it. He hates all of it. Not being able to hear it very well, not being hungry, not being able to speak, to move, he hates it all.

* * *

Review. Reviewww. Reeeviewww. Pppllleeeaaassseee!

I'm absolutely stunned. I never expected so many hits from so many places or so many reviews so quickly. . . . I'm so shocked and yet so happy at the same time! It makes me giddy with excitement!


	3. The Avengers Tower

**3****rd**** Person**

"Meanwhile. . . ." Tony starts off dramatically. "Back on Planet Earth, the Avengers argue over what pizza to order." He says to himself tiredly as he takes a sip of his drink.

The other Avengers argue in the background as Tony has Jarvis put on some music to help drown out the noise. They are all back at the Avengers Tower now, formerly known as the Stark Tower, up in the common room where they spent most of their "together time" in. Tony lounges back in a chair while the others argue on the outside platform area that Tony still uses as a landing pad of sorts.

Nick Fury walks in on the arguing Avengers and stands there patiently for a few moments, assessing the situation. He takes in Tony lounging in his chair with his drink, looking rather tired of the argument, while Bruce insists that the others stop arguing. Natasha, Clint, and Steve have moved on from pizza toppings to some other insignificant topic and are in a heated debate over it when Fury clears his throat idly. They hear him and all shut up and turn to look at him. Nick Fury is not one to be trifled with.

"People, please, you are _way_ too quick to argue. Now, I don't care what is it that you are arguing about, but you need to get over yourselves. Thor brought Loki back to Earth recently, and, as you all know, he was put to trial, what you don't know is what happened during said trial. There was an unusual decision reached. It was decided that Loki would stay here, at the Avengers' Headquarters, under our watch. Now, if you will please stop arguing over stupid stuff we may carry on with our lives and invite our new guest here, to the Avengers Tower." And with that Fury steps to the side and Thor, literally, drags Loki into the room.

Everyone is immediately put on guard as Thor gives Dr. Banner a wounded puppy look. Everyone can tell that Thor still is Loki's big brother in his mind despite everything that Loki has done. Other than that, no one immediately understands what is going on here. They wonder why Loki is here more than what has happened to him. When they notice that Loki is unconscious and that he is obviously too weak to do anything even if he was conscious they lessen their guard up a little, but only a little.

"Silvertounge over here," Fury begins, "needs quite a bit of looking-after. The good doctor, Bruce Banner," Fury motions, "will be in charge of Loki's healing process. There is no need for real worry; Thor informs me that Loki has been stripped of his powers, not just his armor and scepter as you all can see. But I would like to inform you all that that does _not_ give you permission to let your guard down." He has everyone's acute attention at this point. They listen intently as he continues on, turning to look at Tony, "Now, Mr. Stark, I would like for you to build something to help contain him. Give him a normal room with his own personal bathroom, Thor will provide clothes and what-not, but I need you to fortify the room so that he cannot escape from it, magic, or no magic." He emphasizes. "There needs to be constant video surveillance and it needs to be fortified in some way that will keep him in the room whenever we need all of you to go out and do something for us. This means that it needs a way to keep him in there and taken care of, Avengers or no Avengers present."

Tony nods his head okay and says, "Your wish is my command." Before briefly flashing his trademark smile at Fury.

Fury just sighs and turns to the rest of the team. "When he gets better and back to talking we will have him questioned, in the meantime, take good care of him so that he can recover faster. Remember, the faster he recovers, the quicker he is to talking, and the quicker we are to answers and possibly a solution to make everything easier for all of us." He smiles at them to get the point across before nodding saying, "good talk," and leaving Loki to the Avengers. He knows that they don't like the arrangement at all because of the last time he was in their care but he himself felt that it was the best solution at the time that it had been decided upon. Now he wonders if he made the right choice. . . .

Tony finishes his drink swiftly then gets up. "Well, sounds like it's time for me to get back to work." He states before disappearing off to his workplace so that he can begin trying to figure out what to do about Loki's room. He already has a room in mind and tells Thor quickly before he goes. The room is located directly in the middle of all the other Avenger's temporary quarters that they stay in when they are in New York, which makes it easier for them to keep an eye on him.

Thor, followed by Bruce, takes Loki down to the room and lays him down on the bed. Bruce quickly examines Loki once he is put down. The rest file in a bit later and Bruce begins ordering them to go down to the Medical Rooms to retrieve certain equipment for him. He observes that Loki's weakness is mainly from his acute lack of nutrients and asks for an IV and other such equipment and supplies. He quickly gets Loki all hooked up and starts to feed him nutrients through the IV line to start strengthening him.

The others who were helping have gone off to various other activities and places. Steve orders the decided upon pizzas, Clint and Natasha pick out a movie, and Thor goes down to talk to Tony; all as if they didn't have their once-enemy, Loki, unconscious and in the same building as them, sleeping in a room as if he might actually be one of them.

"None of the things that you build will harm my brother, right, Man of Iron?" Thor asks Tony quietly down in his workshop.

Tony shakes his head no. "Not at first at least. For the most part it'll just either stun him or knock him out." Tony says simply, deciding that it would be the best idea for the room's hidden weapons. He quickly starts to set to work on the cameras while Thor watches him for a little while.

"You do not care for my brother, just like the others, do you, Metal Man?" Thor asks a little while later.

"It's not that I don't care for Reindeer Games so much as I don't trust him. And I'm pretty sure that that goes the same for all the others." Tony replies as he finishes up with the last camera.

Thor gets up and leaves the room to go check on his brother. He feels nervous as to what the other Avengers might try; he's afraid that they may try to hurt him more than is necessary. He knows that his brother does deserve a more severe punishment than the one given to him but Loki is still his brother and he still wishes to protect him all the same.

* * *

Why I beg for reviews: . . . . Good question. . . . I actually don't know. . . . Haha! Actually! I do! It's because it tells me to keep on going. It's your way of saying, "Hey! I read this! The least you can do is keep on writing and posting! I actually took the time to REVIEW after all!"

For Oomara13 and all others: Okay, so, in a review (Oomara13's) it was asked of me to not make it FrostIron and it never really was intended to be that because whenever I try for one of those slash type stories it dies before the first paragraph of the story. So you have no worry. It's more of friendship fic than anything else.

Guest: I changed it, thank you for pointing that out to me. I have troubles with spelling sometimes. It's genetics.

Going to be awhile before any more chapters are up. Sorry. I started to write chapter 4 before I first posted my story but now that I look it over it's for a more later on part of the story type thing so I'm going to have to start over. I'd like to be at least a chapter ahead so as soon as I get chapter 5 written I'll post 4.


	4. Loki Awakens

Sorry it took so long for me to update. Went to my grandparent's house. No internet for me there!

"I remember you tossing me into an abyss!" Anyone else catch that? Well, even if you didn't, stay by yourself with your own thoughts for long enough (a year works) and your thoughts get twisted and your mind goes insane (bag full of cats) and your memories are screwed (didn't he let go?) I have a feeling that this is what happened to Loki sooo. . . .

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

Images, thoughts, feelings, I am attacked on all sides by them, just like when I was in exile. This time, though, it is different; they are not the whispers of betrayal, the emotions of abandonment; the thoughts of last time.

I keep relieving the same exact moment, just as before, but this time the emotions do not twist it to look as though Thor let go, as my mind warped it to be, no, this time it is the truth; _I_ let go. Slowly the thoughts of before turn back into sensible thoughts, back into the truth; I guess I had been such a Silvertounge on the outside that my mind turned Silvertounge on me.

Once again I let go of the staff and fall into the abyss. This time I experience the sensation of falling and awake with a jolt, gasping for breath. I sit up suddenly and my mind whirls. Everything is forgotten (all the rediscovered truths of before) as the world around me spins faster than anything before. My eyes blur and I cannot breathe; I gasp for air that does not come and slowly fade into darkness; fade back into unconsciousness.

The first thing I see is a security camera. I sit up slowly and notice three others. They are all each in their own corner and therefore cover the whole room. I notice that they all have "Stark Industries" written down the side of them and study them from my bed for a bit longer.

As I sit there, it occurs to me the softness of the bed. The fact that it actually feels like a bed surprises me. I gaze around the rest of the room in wonder and take it all in. It is a rather large room, especially in comparison to my previous one. The bed is neatly tucked into a corner, is a full sized one, and has dark green colored sheets, pillows, and comforter. It's the same color as I usually wear and I smile at that, thinking that it must have been Thor's doing.

'He got me out. He promised to get me out and he has.' I think to myself as I study the rest of the room.

The walls behind the headboard and on the opposite side are the dark green; the remaining two walls are tarnished gold. There are three doors, one's the tarnished gold color and located to the side of the bed, and the other two are the dark green color and are side by side on the wall opposite the bed. I think it over a minute and decide that the gold one must be the door to the room and the other two a closet and possibly a personal bathroom. At the foot of the bed is a large chest the same tarnished gold color, a black TV is hanging on the wall opposite the bed in between wall and a green door, and a small desk with the color scheme dark green is next to the gold door. The chair has the color scheme tarnished gold and then I notice that there is a full sized looking meal with a cup and pitcher of water on the desk.

My stomach rumbles and so I get slowly slide out from the covers and sit on the edge of the bed for a moment waiting for the slight dizziness to fade. I take slow, deep breaths and my stomach continues to rumble a little. I lean forward a little, starting to get up, and then I catch the smell of the food. I close my eyes to the mouth watering smell. I haven't had a decent sized meal, yet alone a decent meal, in so long. The smell is powerfully intoxicating to my empty belly.

I whimper a little. I'm so hungry yet I am afraid of passing out the moment I get up. I jump slightly when the crisp accented voice interrupts my internal debate.

"Sir, do you want me to get Mr. Stark or Dr. Banner?" The voice seems to come from nowhere, causing me to jump. I freeze up at the names, afraid of what this might mean.

After a few moments the dizziness from my slight jump once again subsides and I glance around. I notice some sort of blue object on the wall next to the tarnished gold door and stare at it for a moment. A thought occurs to me and so I test it out cautiously. "Could you . . . could you get my brother . . . Thor?" I question the disembodied voice.

"Of course, Sir." It replies back to me. I smile a little, glad that I didn't have to rely upon two of the "Avengers," as Stark had once called them, instead of my brother. I didn't trust them as they probably aren't overly found of me, but I do trust my brother a little bit.

**3rd Person**

Thor is in his room when the disembodied voice called Jarvis started to speak to him. "Sir, your brother, Loki, has awoken and requests your presence." Thor's head shoots up immediately at this news. He had been reading a magazine at his desk when Jarvis spoke, now he is on his way to check on his brother. He is joyful to hear that Loki is awake, but afraid of what he might find all the same.

Down in the basement of the tower Tony is in his workshop when Jarvis informs him of Loki's waking. He had watched it all and now he sits back in his chair watching Loki wait for his brother and wonders quietly if Loki still has a "bag full of cats" for a brain as Banner had put it or if he is now been set straight.

He shakes his head as if to clear it. "There's no way. Come on, Tony," he whispers to himself, "you're a smart guy, think this through. No one changes that fast, not even Banner." He notices Thor approaching Loki's door through the cameras that are outside the room focused on the door. 'Looks like Jarvis got a hold of him alright.' He thinks to himself as he keeps watching. He knew Loki was going to ask for Thor, (why would he ask for any of the others?) but he still wonders if Loki is playing some game. He never did trust the God of Mischief and he isn't about to start.

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

I hear a knock on the door a few minutes later and look over at it, hoping that it's Thor. I had spent the last few minutes thinking it over and realized that I trust Thor a lot more than I had previously realized. "Come in." I say cautiously, really hoping for Thor.

I smile, elated, when I see Thor enter the room. He grins at me ecstatically and booms joyfully, "Brother! You are awake! It is so good to see you smile!" He walks over to me and pulls me into a big embrace; I can tell that he is trying hard not to crush me as I hug him back.

"It is good to see you too, Brother." I reply as he lets go of me.

He sits down on the bed next to me. "I was getting really worried about you. After you had woken up for a little while then passed back out Banner had said that you had fallen into a coma. He said that you might not wake back up again. I was very worried about you, thinking that you might end up dying. About a week ago you had begun to wake back up. Last night Banner said that you might wake up today and I was mighty happy to hear this, but worried all the same. It is good to see that he was right."

I listen with a smile on my face. When he stops talking my stomach decides to remind me of my predicament with a loud growl. I look up at Thor with a bit of a pleading look. "I–I'm still a little weak, Brother." I tell him apologetically as I glance at the food longingly.

He looks over at the tray and catches on immediately. He turns back to me and smiles. "You need my help."

I nod quickly, looking back at him.

"Well then, you shall get it." He says friendly. He stands up and helps me slowly stand up. My head reels once more and I nearly collapse. Thor catches me and helps me to the chair. It's only a few steps away but I am so weak that I feel nauseous and exhausted by the time I sit down in the chair. I rest my head on my hands for a few moments, breathing deeply, and Thor sits down on the bed. I can feel his worried look as I sit there with my eyes closed, waiting for the spinning that is causing the nauseated feeling to stop.

"Loki?" He asks quietly with a voice full of worry and concern.

I sit there quietly for a few moments longer before I get the courage to try to speak. "Dizzy," is all I am able to say around the breathlessness.

He remains quiet as the scent of food once again enters into my awareness and clears my head. I regain my breath when the room comes back to stillness. I open my eyes and lift up head before I turn to give Thor a reassuring, but still weak, smile. "Sorry, weak." I say briefly before turning my chair around so that I can eat.

"Do you want me to get Banner to look you over?" He asks, still concerned.

"No." I say then dig into the food. I try to go slow but I can't remember the last time I had tasted food this good before. I don't even know how long it's been since I ate and the thought makes me feel even hungrier. I hear Thor chuckle behind me as he watches me wolf it down.

"Banner said you would be hungry, never said that you would be this hungry." He says laughingly; all trace of concern and worry is gone from his voice. All I mange in return is a muffled grunt which causes him to chuckle a little more.

A pause for a moment as a thought occurs to me. I wait to see if I'm still hungry as I realize that this much food at once could make me sick. I don't stop for long as the hunger returns in full force to assert that it is still there. I smile and continue eating.

* * *

I'm stopping here for the chapter. I have more but when I looked at the word count I realized that I was quickly about to end up with more words in this chapter than in the first three chapters combined. XD


	5. Trusting Thor

Does anyone else agree with me in the thought that Stark and Barton are going to be the last two to trust Loki?

(I feel like pointing out that I have a poll up on my profile. . . . )

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

After I have finished eating all that I could handle Thor helps me trade spots with him. I lay back down on the bed so that I can rest a little more as he begins to tell me all kinds of things. He talks about how the rooms were all designed in a similar format so that the color schemes reflect the person and how there is an item of their choice in their room. He says that Barton has a little nest up in a corner of the room where he can hang out and practice shooting at a target that is located outside the room and that the color scheme is black and blue, that Banner's is bigger than everyone else's and has the same green as the monster he becomes and the brown color he favors for his pants, that Natasha's has a practice mat for her and the color scheme is black and the same red as her hair, that Stark's has various equipment and is the same two colors of his suit, and that his own room is the silver and red of his gear and that he filled it with some Asgardian relics from his own room on Asgard.

I listen as he tells me about all the movies that they showed him. One called Terminator were a robot from the future was sent to kill someone in the past, one with magic controlled by wands that he thought I'd like, one about a half god as strong as himself called Hercules, one about a mask created by a Loki and had such false information on us that he did not enjoy it at all, and he went on and on about movies of all types until it was lunch time.

He went to get us both food and once again helped me to the desk. I didn't eat nearly as much this time but felt much stronger when he helped me over. Afterwards we switched again but this time I stayed sitting up in bed, leaning against the head board, as he told me stories about living here. He told me about the time that Barton hid and ambushed people with suction cup arrows, about when Stark scared them all with a random alarm that he still plays randomly every now and then, about how Banner messes with them by pretending to nearly lose control but how he never does it when Natasha is nearby, about the time that the man called Fury gave them earpieces with different frequencies that could be changed and how they played a game called Halo with them after Stark thought of it, he is so full of stories like this and more. He even tells me about the few other minor threats that they have had to deal with.

He is in the middle of a story when there's a knock at the door. "Jarvis, who is it?" He asks.

I give him a confused look until the disembodied voice replies, "Mr. Stark says that it's time for diner, Sir."

Thor turns to me and sees the look on my face. "Jarvis is the name of that voice," he explains, "it is the house, is how Tony explains it. The blue panel by the door is also a part of it."

I nod my head as he gets up to go get us diner. After he leaves the room I lay down feeling a little cramped from sitting so long. I am lightly dozing when he gets back and awoken by the voice called Jarvis. "Sir, Mr. Thor is back with Dr. Banner."

I frown, not liking that second part, and sit up. "Let them in." I reply.

The door opens up and Thor comes in with food. He is followed by Banner who comes over to the bed.

"Sorry," he says, looking apologetic, "I wanted to see how you're doing. Thor told me you didn't want to see anyone else but I just need to make sure that you are recovering okay."

"I'm fine." I say quietly, not looking at him but rather at the chest at the foot of the bed. I see him nod out of the corner of my eye.

"Well. . . . I'd like to inform you that based upon what Thor told me you are probably still going to be experiencing dizzy spells, feelings of nausea, and are probably still going to feel a little weak for the next few days." He stays quiet for a little, studying me, as I watch him out of the corner of my eye. He sighs, "I'll go on ahead and leave you alone now, then."

Thor silently helps me over to the chair then sits back down on the bed. I eat slowly this time, thinking about my situation. Listening to Thor had allowed me to keep my mind off the fact of where I am.

"Brother." He starts. He stops then sighs before starting again. "He only means to help you, Loki. He has no real quarrel with you. Please, don't be so mean to him."

A flash of him tossing me around like I was nothing flashes in my mind and I flinch. My back is to Thor so he does not see. "You did not see what he did to me, Thor." I say quietly.

"Banner has no control over himself when he is in that other form. You cannot blame him for the actions of the other creature." He says, I can tell that he is torn by this; torn between his friends and me.

I sigh and decide that if he trusts them, then I can too. "Do you trust them?" I ask, I do not mean it offensively, but I am a little on edge as I do not know who to trust.

Thor thinks for a moment before he speaks. "I trust Banner; he has done nothing but constantly help you recover and he has been nice to me; explaining everything to me and keeping me up to date with your progress; him I trust."

"The others?" I ask quietly. I have stopped eating and now just push my food around. It's not that I'm not hungry, which I am, it's that I need to know and do not want to miss anything he says.

He sighs and thinks a little more before he continues on. "I trust Stark, but I do not think it would be wise for you too. He does not trust you at all and I think that that makes him dangerous for you. There is no telling what he will try to do to you." I knew it. "Barton and Natasha are best of friends if not closer, they trust only what they other trusts and Barton will not trust you after what you did to him. Because of that, because of your previous actions, Natasha will not trust you. Stay clear of Barton and Natasha, prove yourself to them many times over, and they may come to trust you, but I very much doubt it. The other one thinks like a soldier and not much more, despite Stark's efforts." He chuckles a little at that and I guess it is supposed to be funny, but I do not know how. "Captain America, or Rogers, probably won't trust you either until there is more that trust you than do not trust you." I nod my head in understanding. "I trust all of them, Brother, but their distrust of you makes them dangerous to you. When it comes to you I trust only Banner, no other do I trust. Fury, their leader, is who you should be the most afraid of though. He is the one in charge of them and when it comes to you they are more likely to obey an order from him to hurt you than they are to obey an order from him to help you." He warns me and I listen to it well, mentally storing it for future references.

Quietness falls over us and so I go back to eating. I finish the rest of my meal in silence and when I stack my dishes up and drink the rest of my water, it is still quiet. I look over at Thor to see if he is even still awake. He looks like he is deep in thought so I just keep my feet on the ground as I just lean my knees side to side so that my chair spins a little. I lean back against the spinney desk chair's back and just stare up at the ceiling with my head against the top of the chair back.

Thor looks up at me after a few more moment's thoughts. "Fury wants to question you later."

I roll my head to the side so that I am looking at him and continue to lazily spin.

"I hope he only questions, nothing more. I do not know him well enough to know whether or not you should trust him." He continues on after I never respond.

I just look back up at the ceiling and continue my lazy spinning.

After awhile he sighs. "Brother. . . ."

I lol my head back towards him. "I know, Thor, he probably won't be nice with me. I've met him before. Its okay, I'm prepared for the mental onslaught. Just not prepared for physically onslaught." I sit up straighter and turn to face him. "Think you could help me back to my bed? It's getting rather late, don't you think?"

Thor nods at me then gets up and helps me. "I hope he is not too harsh with you all the same, Loki." He says as I slide in under the covers.

I get all comfortable before looking up at him. "Me too, Brother, me too."

We both say good night before he leaves the room. I lay there, wide awake, for a few more minutes before I roll back over and fall into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Lazy spinning: hard to do with a computer on your lap and not in a comfortable chair. And yes, I was writing Loki spinning in a chair while spinning the same exact way he was (minus looking at the ceiling, I'm not that much of a computer writer. My hands tell you I'm a paper writer.)


	6. The Feeling Before The Storm

Genre for my story is Friendship and Hurt/Comfort. Here's the Hurt/Comfort. . . . Poor Loki (and Thor.)

* * *

**3****rd**** Person**

In less than a month Loki had managed to get back most of his strength. Just a few days ago he had walked around the whole floor, visiting everyone in their rooms, and even had enough strength to walk around the next floor and still make it back to his room on his own. That's why Thor is now pacing around the common room worriedly.

Early this morning Fury had come for Loki. He had told the team when Loki was first brought here 4 months ago that he would question him when he was healed and early this morning he came to make good on his promise. Thor's agitation at this is seeping into everyone else and the whole team is now sitting around agitated and nervous. Everyone quietly waits in the common room for Fury to bring back Loki or at least for Thor to go back to his own room.

"He's like a caged animal." Barton whispers quietly into Tasha's ear so that no one else can hear.

"I can't take any more of this." Tony says then quickly gets up and walks off to the elevators. Everyone turns and watches him go, everyone but Thor.

Barton turns back around then so does Tasha. They are sitting side by side at the bar, their backs to Thor who paces in front of the couches. Banner is sitting at the dining table fiddling around pointlessly on a computer. Steve is sitting down in an armchair staring at the TV as if wiling it to come on or imagining what's on. Every now and then Thor crosses into Steve's line of sight, but only very rarely.

Steve is use to this type of anxiety, it's like the anxiousness that comes before an impending battle is the way he sees it. He, like all the others (minus Thor), senses the impending disaster; they all know what Fury can be like sometimes and now it worries them. They fear what shall be found and fear Thor's reaction.

Steve decides to attempt to loosen the tension by getting up and putting on a movie. Banner and the others move over to the viewing area and settle down to watch the movie.

"You might want to sit down Thor, there isn't anything you can really do right now, you can only wait. Allow the movie to take your mind off of it for the time being, okay?" Banner suggests, trying to placate the god.

Thor nods his head quietly and moves to sit down on the couch next to him. He still broods for the most part of the beginning of the movie but then he starts to relax and watch it. When it ends Steve takes no time in replacing it with another movie. Before it is realized, it's midnight.

Tony had joined them when Lord of the Rings had been put in and is now slumped over, leaning slightly on Thor who is leaning on Tony as well. Dr. Banner has also fallen asleep and is slightly snoring with his head hanging limply against his chest. Steve had long since gone back to his own room and fallen asleep. The only two still (barely) awake are Barton and Tasha and they are now watching some romance comedy movie that they both enjoy. It does not take long, however, for them to fall asleep as well.

Everyone is awoken with the sound of Jarvis' voice. "Excuse me, Avenger's, but you have a visitor."

Groggy and disoriented the Avengers slowly wake up. Tony sits up straight and shakes his head to wake himself up, yawning and stretching Banner stands up only to stumble a little.

"Careful." Tony says sleepily as he stands up slowly, groaning a little. He shuffles over to the kitchen to get something for breakfast.

Banner shakes Thor awake. He stretches and stays sitting there looking a bit like he's about to pass out again as he blinks sleepily. Tony sits down next to Steve who is wide awake and quietly munching away, eating a small bowl of cereal. Banner joins them after awhile with some oatmeal.

Barton and Tasha are curled up around each other still fast asleep before Tony wakes up enough to have Jarvis blast a quick, loud horn in their ears. They awake up immediately, jumping awake from each other. Wide awake they look around a little bewilderedly.

"Time to get up, love birds." Tony calls out to them and Tasha gives him a look as Barton stands up and stretches.

"What time is it?" Barton asks groggily as he slowly walks over to the kitchen.

"Jarvis?" Tony prompts.

"It is 9:32 A.M., Sir." Jarvis replies.

"9:32." Tony tells Barton with a smile as if Barton might have missed it.

Barton just scowls at him before he gets something to eat. Tasha gets up and joins Barton, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Ignore him." She mumbles tiredly to Barton.

"Hey, at what time did you two fall asleep at anyways?" Tony asks, now wide awake.

"Um. . . ." Tasha thinks for a moment, trying to figure it out.

"Sir, my records show that they fell asleep around 5 this morning." Jarvis informs him.

"Oh wow." Tony says. "So . . . that's what . . . 4 and half hours? Of sleep?" Tony asks the two "master assassins".

They just scowl at him tiredly. He grins back at them as Thor gets up from the couch. He stumbles a bit on his way but manages to make it to the table where he sits down next to Steve and across from Banner.

"You look like you fell asleep at the same time as them, Sleeping Beauty." Tony teases as he looks at Thor.

"Want some coffee, Thor?" Tasha asks while Thor gives Tony a confused look.

Tony just rolls his eyes as Thor tells her "yes, please."

Jarvis pips back up after they have all settled down around the table. "Your visitor is growing impatient, Sir"

"Visitor?" Tony questions, confused.

"It's why you're even up." Steve replies and continues on at Tony's confused look. "He said there was a visitor and that's when everyone began to wake up. I told him to tell them to wait while you all woke up." He explains.

"Ah. Let them in, Jarvis." Tony says, taking a long sip of his drink.

"Yes, Sir." Jarvis replies.

The elevator opens up a little while later and Fury comes walking in. "It's good to see all of you awake. I came in here earlier and most of you were passed out on the couches." He says as he walks up to them.

"You came in here?" Steve asks with a questioning look on his face, not remembering that.

"You were asleep too." Fury replies. "Anyways, I-"

"Where is my brother?" Thor interrupts and Fury sighs, glancing up at the ceiling then diverts his gaze to Thor.

"We will get to that in a moment, just enjoy your breakfast as I inform you all of what I've learned." Fury says.

Thor doesn't look too happy about that but he goes back to eating.

"Now," Fury beings, "as you all know, I had Loki questioned. I had questions like, where he got his army, was there someone else involved, and so on and so forth. And I got my answers. Loki got his army from someone known as the Other. The Other and Loki were both working for someone called Thanos. Loki gave us a warning. He said that Thanos is a lot more powerful and a lot more dangerous than the Chitauri or any other being we have gona against so far. This Thanos is who we are going to need to be on high alert for. Especially since he'll want Loki after his failure. Loki said that Thanos wants the Tesseract and probably still thinks that it's here on Earth which is what we need to hope for."

"And Loki?" Barton asks. He wasn't fond of the guy at all but he remembered how agitated Thor was last night. He thinks of what Loki did to him and hopes that Loki got what he deserved.

"He's. . . . In pretty bad shape right now. . . ." Fury says.

"What? . . ." Thor looks up at Fury at this.

Fury sighs. "Something happened, like Thanos has some sort of safe guard, I guess. We aren't sure. One moment Loki is perfectly fine next he's a wreck. We don't know what happened. We are trying to figure it out. I'm sorry Thor."

Banner looks at Fury then Thor then back at Fury. He's about to say something when Fury interjects.

"It's mental, Dr. Banner, nothing you can do." He looks at Barton. "I know that you probably want pay back after he pretty much pushed you out of your own mind, but this, this is different. Even after he 'played pull you out,' as you put it, I think you still wouldn't want to see him like this."

Barton's bow furrows as he looks at Fury, not understanding. Yeah, he had a grudge against Loki, Fury is right about that, but what could possibly be so bad that he wouldn't want even Loki to go through it?

"I don't understand." Thor says. "Where is he? Where is my brother?"

Fury looks at him. "We don't know. It's like he's in two places at once right now."

"He does that have ability." Thor interjects. "He is able to be in two places at once with his power. But it was removed from him. I don't understand how he is able to do that right now."

"Thor, even we don't understand what is going on at this moment. All we know is that someone is playing games with Loki's mind in a way that would make anyone flinch."

"Uh, Fury?" Tony pipes up. "How do we know that he isn't faking it?"

"The way he is acting, it's hard to fake. That and his vitals are spiking in ways that no one can imitate on their own." Fury replies.

"Huh." Tony looks over at Thor for a moment.

Thor looks really upset and angry. He looks up at Fury. "And you don't know who did this to him?" He asks him.

"We suspect this Thanos guy that he warned us about did, but we aren't sure. We don't know because he doesn't seem to be here with us." Fury replies. "He seems to be talking to someone every now and then, that's part of the clue, the other one is that sometimes cuts and bruises and other marks appear on his body. They seem to come from nowhere. We even saw one slowly being etched into his skin but we never saw what blade – if there was one – that did it."

This seems to really upset Thor. "Where is he now?"

"That's not a good idea." Fury says warningly.

"I don't care." Thor replies, seeming quite irate. "I need to see him."

"I can't let you do that, Thor. You need to either stay here or go back to Asgard. I know it doesn't seem right to keep you away from your brother right now, but there is nothing you can do there. Maybe if you go to Asgard and ask around you can find something out about this Thanos guy. That certainly would help Loki. If we find Thanos then maybe we can find your brother."

In a S.H.I.E.L.D. high security, top secret lab somewhere far away Loki screams in pain, the doctors run around in panic, and Loki's vitals sky rocket. Far away on a different planet Loki's shadow self is experiencing a dissection that would make even the strongest of stomachs queasy. The magic that binds him allows no marks to be made on his real body back on Earth, but the pain and feeling is still there all the same.

* * *

Queue ominous music. Like the "dun dun duuun!" type.

Rrreeevvviiieeewww! It only takes a few seconds! (If it's longer than a minute then you're probably doing something wrong.) But please! Review!

And I know. It's a nasty cliffhanger. And you're really going to hate me for the next chapter. . . .


	7. A Wish For Death, A Wish For Pain

Part of this is an idea I've gotten from Dr. Dee and Dr. Dum of Syfy's Alice. (I give credit where credit is due.)

And I know you're going to hate me! (Hides.)

* * *

**3****rd**** Person**

At first it was physical pain. Now Loki wishes that they go back to it. He wishes that they were back to the cattle prods, dissections, cutting, and the beatings. He wishes for something as sweet as pain, just like the Other had told him he would.

He wished he had listened better.

He wished he had never let go of the staff.

Then he wished that he had never been born.

Images bombarded his mind. Feelings, emotions, thoughts, memories; they all seemed so real. Soon it all blurred. What was real? What was truth? What was torture? He no longer knew.

A tear rolls down his check on Earth. Here, though, he weeps. He weeps as he lives through a new memory.

_Laufey ignores him. The older Frost Giant, Yutan, told him his parentage; that Laufey is his father, but he begins to think the elder crazy. Yutan must've been wrong because Laufey won't even look at him. He runs away when the worriers start to come._

_ Why did I even go in the first place? He thinks to himself as he sits down with his knees pressed tightly against his chest, his arms wrapped around them. He is so small; the smallest Frost Giant on Jotunheim. How on Jotunheim could _I _ possibly be Laufey's son? He scolds himself in his mind. I _know _better!_

_ But he still feels lonely and rejected. He has always lived and fended for himself. Yutan only talked to him to tell him a lie. Yutan didn't even look at him! He began to cry; he is holed up in a crevice only he can fit into, he is alone, small, and rejected. No one looked at him, no one talked to him, and the only hugs he ever got are the ones he gives himself. If only Yutan had been right. He thinks. Then I would be bigger. Then I would be accepted. Then people would look at me and talk to me. And one day I would be king too! And maybe, maybe I would finally be hugged . . . for once. . . ._

As the memory ends he hears Thanos' deep, rumbling, evil laugh fill his ears. Before he can do anything, however, he is launched into another memory.

He went through everything; every fear, every nightmare, every dream of his, everything. His worst nightmares were amplified, his dreams were smashed time after time, every fear was personified, everything. He got to Odin's chambers too late, Thor killing him and not weeping, not even missing him, constant rejections by those he loved, he died alone and abandoned, he fell in love only to find out that he had been used the whole time, Odin never once calling him "son," Thor banishing him, anything and everything. It went beyond the simple stuff and dived on in deeper. He didn't know how they got into his mind, only that they did and they discovered everything along the way.

He wept, he screamed, he died, he whimpered, he wished, he feared, he pleaded, he lost, he never won. He was rejected, he was killed; he was forced to lose all hope. He was never even given hope. He only wished for death.

They were creative with their torture, very creative. They did to him what he did to Barton; they pushed him into the back of his mind and gave control to something else. They did things to him that no one could have ever dreamed of. He went through it all.

Soon, he no longer cried, he no longer wept, no longer whimpered, no longer wished, no longer hoped, no longer feared; they successfully trained him to no longer believe in good, to no longer hope, to only know bad and expect bad. He didn't even long for death any more. In his mind, this is the only thing he could get.

Bad is all that my life shall be filled with. I only deserve the purest of evils and terrors in my life. Torture is all I can expect. No one is to be trusted. Every evil is permitted in my life.

And that's all he ever thought any more.

Fury sighs, he knows that something is wrong but he knows not what. He does not tell Thor about Loki's condition. He does not tell him that Loki no longer cries, no longer screams in pain or fear, that he no longer does anything. He does not tell Thor that all Loki does any more is stare out straight, never looking, never talking, and never pleading. He tells Thor nothing.

"What do you suppose they did to him?" Barton whispers to Tasha as the stare at him from around the corner.

"I have no idea." She whispers back.

"Whoa." Tony whispers as he looks around the corner. "I never imagined that he could end up like that. Did you?"

"No, I didn't." Tasha whispers back, glancing at Tony.

"Fury was right." Barton whispers, looking a little shocked.

"Oh?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I wouldn't ever wish him to end up like this."

"Huh?"

"Look at his eyes."

All three of them look back over at him and try to see his eyes.

Steve sees them and stands behind them. "What are you three doing?" He whispers.

They all turn to look at him. "Look," is all they whisper back. They then turn back around to try to see his eyes.

Steve quietly huffs before coming out from the corner and walking over to Fury. That's when he sees it. He stops halfway across the room and stares.

"Thor's in Asgard." Fury says. "And hopefully he stays there."

All Steve manages is a nod and an "uh huh." He stares in quiet shock. He has never in his life seen anyone look like this.

I do not think. I have not thought. I never do. I only wait. That is all I ever do now. An impression of curiosity enters my mind. It wonders as to what torture they will bring to me. But it never becomes a thought. Because I never think. Never.

It crosses Steve's mind that he looks like one of the Jews from pictures of the Holocaust; bone thin and dead inside. There is a bleak, ominous look on his face, like some resigned to a horrible fate. His eyes are dead, they are dull and lifeless. It's like looking at a corpse! Steve thinks to himself as he stares. He begins to wonder if he is even still alive.

My brain registers nothing. Not the looks of shock, not the secret whispers from the corner, not even that there are people in the room. My eyes slowly droop close and I fade back into unconsciousness. I no longer sleep because to sleep would be to dream and to recover. I do not recover, I do not heal, I no longer dream. There is nothing to dream about.

"The psychiatrist suggested that we find a way to give him permanent amnesia, said it was the only way that he could think to fix him." Fury whispers quietly to Steve as he fades out into unconsciousness.

Steve stares at him, humbled by the fact that, despite the horrors this man must've gone through, he still lives.

Fury leans over and taps Loki on the shoulder. "Loki?" When he doesn't wake up he straightens back up and looks at Steve.

"Captain?" Fury asks quietly.

Steve is pulled out of the trance and takes a step back. He looks over at Fury with a look that says everything.

"I know. It's like looking at the dead." Fury quietly says understandingly. "We need to find a way to erase his memory."

Fury leans down and puts a hand on Loki's should, shaking him gently. "Loki." He hums his name a little.

Steve nods his head quietly and looks down at the ground. He puts his hands in his pockets and wonders as to what it was that happened to him.

Fury shakes him roughly. "Loki!"

Who could've ever imagined Loki in this state?

* * *

Sometimes I think that I have a very well hidden alter ego that only comes out in this one character of mine that I write about a lot. Never occurred to me that writing a torture chapter would be like this. If my favorite character to write about from my own writing is indeed an alter ego of mine personified then this is what he would do. R.C. is the master torturer and I guess I kind of forgot. This chapter has a very dark, negative tone to it. Just be happy there is not more detail. It shall be awhile before a light one comes around, though, as torture of this magnitude is hard to fix.

I'm sorry.

Review? Even critical, hate ones are appreciated. :P


	8. Wide Awake

Where did Chapter 5 end again? ;)

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

I jolt awake, breathing heavily. I am lying on my side in a very dark room. I feel a hand gripping onto my shoulder and hear a sigh of relief behind me. What just happened? I wonder to myself.

I lay my head back down on my pillow and let out a heavy, relieved sigh. I close my eyes and keep breathing heavily. My heart still races and I feel very sweaty. I feel the hand let go and slip off my shoulder.

"This time, stay awake."

I open my eyes at the sound of the voice behind me and spin around in my bed really quick. I groan loudly and shut my eyes as I suddenly become dizzy. "What the hell?" I moan as I begin to feel very nauseous.

"You had a nightmare, that's what." The voice sounds agitated.

My head pounds as my mind whirls and my stomach churns. I moan again. The voice sounds familiar but I can't place it. Who is in my room?

"I don't feel so good." I moan softly as I lay there twisted, half on my side half on my back. I put my hand on my forehead and keep my eyes closed.

"Don't you dare throw up on me!" They warn me.

Tony.

I groan. "Why does it have to be you?" I mutter darkly.

"Hey. Don't ask me." He huffs. "Just be glad that I am. You were about to hurt yourself you were thrashing around so badly." I feel him sit down on the edge of the bed.

I open my eyes and turn my head to look at him. I wait for my eyes to a gust to the darkness. All I am able to make out is his silhouette and I sigh. I see the soft glow of blue light up the desk chair in front of him. "What is that in your chest?" I ask him curiously.

I see him raise his head up and he turns his head around to see me from around his shoulder. I can't quite make out his face. "What? The blue circle of light?"

"Yeah."

"It's called an Arc Reactor. Well, actually, it's a miniaturized version of one." He replies turning back to the chair.

"What does it do?"

"Well, it stopped you from taking over my mind." He says and I roll my eyes slightly. "And I have a bunch of shrapnel in my chest that is trying to crawl into my heart and kill me. This thing," I hear the faint sound of him taping it and see the shadow of it against the chair, "keeps the shrapnel from killing me."

"And you . . . built . . . it?" I ask; a little confused.

"Yep." He replies. "I also built the cameras in this room. I built this tower before you destroyed it and rebuilt it afterwards. I created Jarvis and the blue panels scattered about. I use to build a lot of weapons too before one of them blew up in my face and nearly killed me with shrapnel. I've built a lot of things."

I fall silent and look up at the ceiling. Feeling very tired I close my eyes and sigh tiredly. "That nightmare drained me."

I hear him chuckle quietly. "It's not like you were very strong to begin with." He says simply.

I sigh and open my eyes, glancing over at him. "I know, but it still drained me." I yawn loudly.

"Don't you dare fall asleep on me again." He warns as he turns around to face me.

"Again?" I ask, confused. The blue light is bright and I have to squint a little. It casts weird shadows on the bottom of his face and neck. I still can't make out his face very well.

"When I first came in here I managed to wake you up but all you did after about 5 seconds was fall back asleep. I sat down in the desk chair, nearly fell asleep, and was lightly dozing when you woke me up with a short but piercing scream." I frown at that. "I am _not_ going through that again." He says warningly.

I sigh resignedly. "Fine. . . . I can't guarantee that I won't fall asleep again though." I warn him. "I feeling really exhausted."

He sighs and gets up. "Might want to close your eyes." He says.

I frown, confused, but do what he says. I hear the click of a flip being switched and suddenly light is flooding the room. I blink my eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness, as he comes back over and pulls the desk chair up next to the bed and sits down in it backwards.

I study him for a moment as he crosses his arms over the top of the back. He's wearing jeans and a grey t-shirt. I notice that the shirt has a hole cut out in it so that the miniature Arc Reactor is sticking out. He looks like he was up before I started to have the nightmares.

"What would you like to talk about?" He prompts.

I sigh then struggle for a moment, trying to sit up. I give up after a minute and settle back down on the bed on my side. Tony just watches me fail. I didn't think he was going to help me and I won't ask because I doubt that he would even if I _begged_ him to.

I look over at him. "You look like you might've been up before I started to have my nightmares."

"Yes. I was. I couldn't sleep so I got up and went downstairs and started to work on my Iron Man suit. Jarvis piped up, informing me that you were thrashing around sometime later so I came up here to investigate."

"Iron Man?" I question.

"It's my superhero name." I give him a confused look and he rolls his eyes. "When I'm wearing the suit I'm Iron Man. Just like when Dr. Banner is a big, green, rage monster he is called the Hulk." He says in reply.

"Ah."

"Yep."

We fall silent and he looks around the room a bit as I go back to studying the ceiling.

"I think you are the only one in this building who still hasn't added their own personal touch to their room." He says as he looks around a bit. He turns back to me as I look at him. "What do you plan to put in here anyways?"

I think for a moment. "I'm not quite sure." I say. "I'm not quite overly fond of many things. I'm not a nostalgic person and I don't hold on tightly to too many objects."

He smiles slightly and nods his head. "Well, you ever think of something then you let me know, Reindeer Games."

I frown at the name and he smirks. "What?"

"Why do you call me that?" I ask, frowning.

"It's a nickname. I have a tendency to give everyone nicknames. Plus your helmet has antlers so I just put two and two together." He replies back.

"Ah." I say. "What time is it?" I ask after a little more thought.

"Jarvis?" He asks.

The crisp, accented voice answers him. "It's 1:42 AM, sir."

"Well there's your answer." He says as he smiles at me.

I frown. Why does it have to be so late? I wonder to myself.

We continued to talk about random, pointless things. Nothing important ever came up as we talked making it a long night.

* * *

I looked at the clock on my laptop for Jarvis' answer so now you know the approximate time of when I stopped writing. XD

REVIEW!

And I know people seemed to kind of like the dark side of the previous chapter but I have something a bit better in mind. ;P Writing Chapter 13 now.

Funny story: Writing about Rubix Cube, next day, I find one. XD (Am I spelling it wrong?)


	9. Irrational Tony

Went on a trip to Illinois; saw Garden of the Gods (LOOK IT UP!); was introduced to new awesome music, now back to the story. XD

Loki strikes me as a logic puzzles and brain games kind of guy. Which reminds me: I need a new 200 Logic Puzzles book. XD

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

Time went by slowly for me. I spent all my time in my room. Thor or someone else would bring me food after meals, whenever I had a nightmare at night Tony would stay up with me, between lunch and dinner Thor would visit, and Banner checked on me once a week. Time was crawling by the end of the month.

Thor was introduced to brain games and puzzles and logic games and puzzles and he in turn gave them to me. Sudoku, Rubix Cubes, some sort of Domino Search game, Logic Problems, and various other games where what I played when I was alone or when Tony didn't feel like talking. Tony gave me a deck of cards and taught me several one person card games I could play when I was bored as well. Time still crawled by.

I had just solved the Rubix Cube for the 7th time (Tony always jumbled them up for me to make it harder) when there is a knock at my door. I look over at the clock on my desk and see that it's a little bit past 2 in the morning.

"Come in." I call out, wondering why Tony is coming to visit me. (He's the only one who visits me this late at night.)

He comes in and he looks like a bit of a mess; his hair is messed up as if he kept running his hands through it worriedly, he's twitchy, his eyes are a little wild, and he has a troubled look on his face. He sits down on the chair like usual; next to the bed and in it backwards and then I smell it; the foul odor of whiskey. I crinkle my nose as he begins to talk as the putrid smell pours out of his mouth.

"She's always called me irresponsible, a lot of people do, most people do, in fact, but this time it was different." He says a little rushed. I can tell that he's pretty drunk and I'm a little surprised that he's not stuttering or stumbling. I wonder how long he's been working on this little ramble of a speech. "I know I give her quite a bit of grief and I tell her sorry about it all the time, really, I do. I never try to give her grief or stress her out. I just don't understand how she could do this." He glances up at me then back down. The only expression I have on my face is confusion; hatred of the smell is in my eyes; I've never been one for whiskey. "She told me to grow up, and she's done that before, but not like this. She practically screamed it at me. I mean, she was adamant. It was insane. It was like something inside her just snapped. I don't know what it was that made her so extremely mad at me but something, something did." I just stare as he goes on, slurring only slightly every now and then. "She told me to grow up and to be more responsible. What did I do in response? I did something completely irrational, irresponsible, and completely stupid. I don't even know why I did it." He groans and rubs his hands on his face. "I'm so screwed."

"What did you do?" I ask after a few moments of silence.

"I fucked up, that's what I did." He says propping his head up on one of his hands letting the other arm hang over the chair back as he stares at some point on the side of the bed.

"How?" I prod.

He looks up at me, drops his hand, and crosses his arms over the back of the chair, leaning forward a little with a quizzical look on his face. "Have you ever been in a relationship before?"

I stare at him for a moment, thrown off guard by the sudden question. "Wha-what?" I ask him, confused.

"Have you, ever, been in, a relationship?" He asks a bit more slowly with a little more emphasis.

"Yes?" I say, still not understanding the sudden change in topic.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" He asks me seriously.

"Telling. I just don't understand the change in topic." I reply back, puzzled.

"What are you talking about? I'm not changing the topic. You're the one changing the topic." He shakes his hands as if to wave it all away. "We're getting off track here. I'm guessing you two broke up?"

"Um. Yes. We did." I say, still puzzled.

"What happened?" He asks looking at me, head back to being propped up on his hand.

"She broke up with me saying that she just needed some time to herself to think things over. She died a few weeks later." I reply back, looking at the Rubix Cube in my hand.

"I'm sorry." He says.

"Don't be. She was ill, that's why she broke up with me. She thought that putting some distance between us would make it easier for me to cope." I reply back. I never really was one for sentiment.

"Did it?" He asked me, sounding curious.

"Not at all. . . . It actually made it a bit worse." I say quietly.

"Oh. . . ." Out of the corner of my eye I see him look down at the ground. I notice that both of his arms are crossed over the chair now. He sure does move around a lot.

"Did Pepper break up with you?" I ask, looking at him, realizing that these questions and his rant had to have some sort of point.

"No. . . . I think." He says, looking a little confused now. "It seemed like it but she never actually said anything that indicated it." He looks up at me. "Advice?"

"Give her some distance, let her think it out, then try to find out," is what I tell him; I'm not exactly young and I've had quite a bit of experience with love, not all of them good.

He nods his head and heaves a heavy sigh, looking around the room a bit. "We should put a TV in here. You might not actually watch it a lot but it would at least make the space a little more homely." He says abruptly.

"We?" I question.

"Yeah." He turns back to me. "Give me something to occupy my time with when I'm here because of your stupid nightmares and you're busy playing games."

I just stare at him. He looks down at the ground and we fall silent. I don't think I will ever understand this mortal.

He clears his throat after a little bit of time. "You're pretty old, right?" He asks, looking back up at me with a quizzical look.

My brow furrows; I don't understand what he is trying to get at. "Yes. I'm a god after all."

He nods his head as he looks away, his eyes back to wandering around the room. "Right, that's what I thought."

"Why?" I slightly demand, confused, wondering when he will get to his point.

He doesn't look at me. "What's the furthest point in a relationship that you've gotten?"

I keep looking at him with a suspicious look on my face. "What did you do?"

He looks everywhere _but_ me. "Just answer the question, Disappearing Act."

I roll my eyes at the nickname but answer the question anyways. "I have a kid."

_Now_ he looks at me. "Really?" He seems a little _too_ interested andI give him a very suspicious look. "Are they all grown up?"

"Yes. . . ." I have a bad feeling about this.

"What's it like? Having a kid, I mean." He shakes his head vigorously. "I mean, raising them. What's raising them like?"

_OH._ "You didn't. . . ." I say, giving him a wide-eyed, shocked look.

"I thought it would make me seem more responsible!" He protests, motioning with his hands.

_Idiot._ I pinch the bridge of my nose, my eyes closed, no longer even facing him. "Tony. . . ." I begin with a sigh.

"What?" He protests. "I thought that it would help! Kids make you responsible, right? So I adopted a kid thinking that it would make me more responsible!"

I sigh heavily. _Idiot._ "You have _no_ idea of what you just got yourself into." I look over at him with a furrowed brow. "Yes, they make you more responsible, but that is nowhere _close_ to the reason for why you get a kid! Nowhere close to _any_ of the reasons!"

He sighs exasperatedly. "Great! Just, great! Just my luck!" He throws his arms up in the air. "I tried to become more responsible, knew I fucked up, tell you how, and now you just go on ahead and lecture me even more on how I fucked up. I _know_ I fucked up, Loki, I _know_." He stresses.

I roll my eyes at him. "Do you have the kid yet? Do you even know anything about the kid?"

"I know that he legal doesn't exist."

I give him a confused look. "What?"

He sighs. "I filled out the forms and everything for the whole 'getting on the list' thing and Fury approached me the other day telling me to get off of it. He said that if I wanted a kid then he has the perfect one for me. Said the kid had been raised in some remote area of Pakistan after being discovered by some American soldiers over there a few years back. Said they hid the kid there with some friendlies and reported the child to S.H.I.E.L.D. They've been monitoring the kid ever since."

"So what do you know about the kid?" I ask, incredulously.

"Um. . . . Well, that something about him has S.H.I.E.L.D. interested, that he is about 12 but looks much older and acts much older, that he is currently in Pakistan, and that he is now mine. Fury just has to make him legal, you know, get him all the paperwork and have him registered yada, yada, yada." He said using his hand for emphasis on the last three words. He looks at me and notices my expression. "What?"

"You know, barely anything about this kid, not even _why_ they are interested in him, and you just _agreed_ to take him?" I ask incredulously.

He nods his head. "Yeah, basically. But, see, Fury seemed really happy to finally have a reason to get this kid so I didn't really feel like pulling out last minute."

I just stare at him with an expression of disbelieving.

"What? It's true! Fury seems to really want the kid, said something about the kid being an awesome addition to the team. . . . . So I said yes." He said, looking at me.

I just shake my head. "I have yet to understand you, Tony Stark."

* * *

Tony's acting a little irrational now, isn't he? Heh. So. Wonder what the kid will be like? I'll give you a hint: I bit like his father. That's what. XD

ParanoidSchizo91: No. It was just a bad dream. :P You'll see my end game later on.

LoveIsKneelingToLoki: Awesome name. I sent you a PM on your confuzzlment. PM me further any more confusement.


	10. Meeting New People

It's about time we get out of the three character loop, huh?

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Unknown**

It has been 4 hours since I first put them on and I'm still trying to get use to the feel of my new clothes. I feel so bare with them on; they are so much lighter and fewer then the clothes I wore before. I can feel the cool surface of the elevator wall through my shirt as I lean against it. I stare down at the puzzle in my hands as I lean with one foot firmly planted on the ground and the other folded over my leg and up on its toes. I almost always leaned like this.

I stare down at the small puzzle in my hands. The colors blur with the grayness but I can still make them out. The male called Fury taught me how to be able to solve the puzzle and so I twist the different pieces around in the intricate the pattern that is required to solve the puzzle.

I look up briefly as the elevator dings then I look back down at the puzzle. I sigh and stand up straight. I put the puzzle away in the rolling suitcase that Fury holds open for me. He zips it close, puts it down, and starts to wheel it out of the elevator. I follow him after leaning down and grabbing my backpack. The label claimed it to be a green color so I picked it, it isn't the green I was hoping for and now I'm stuck with it. I sigh again at the memory of Fury making my mistake be realized. I hate my backpack.

I follow him down the hallway and see another grey elevator on the other side of the T. We round the corner then stop in the entrance to what appears to be the family gathering room. Fury quietly informs me that it is the common room over his shoulder. I look at him as he gives me the information then I look at its occupants; studying each of them in turn.

There's a small but lean and powerful looking female with a weird color hair next to what I believe to be referred to as a bar. She is drinking out of a small looking glass next to a male with somewhat dark hair that looks like a hunter. The female is wearing some sort of black pants I have yet to learn about and some white shirt that appears to have buttons running up and down the front. It looks like a button up but is more feminine and has some sort of ruffle running down the front. The male is wearing jeans and what I guess to be a gray t-shirt. I glance down at my shoes then back at his. His shoes are different than mine. Her shoes are different too; they look painful and seem to look as though they would add height to her. The two appear to be a pair.

I turn my head slightly and notice the next occupant; a short statured male with a bulkier frame than the previous two and somewhat dark hair as well. He is standing up in between table and bar. He is wearing different shoes than me, jeans, and another button up shirt. He seems to have something in front of his eyes that I don't recognize at first but then remember to be known as glasses. He seems timid and of no real threat so I dismiss him and look at the other occupant.

This male has a lighter colored hair and he seems very old fashioned. He is sitting lazily at a table, leaned back in a chair. He also strikes me as a leader much like the Fury male. He wears strange clothes I barely recognize; jeans, some weird shoes, a white button up shirt, and some sort of jacket. He does not look that strong yet I can tell he is the leader. I wonder why for a moment before dismissing it for later and turning to look at the next occupant.

The next occupant I recognize and my heart skips a small beat as I tense up a little. I relax knowing that he will not recognize me. I am still weary; however, as this means that I will be living with him. I wonder if my uncle being here might signal that my real father is here too. I shrug it off knowing that neither will recognize me as both do not know I even exist. My father only knows about my brother Narvi. He does not know about me or about Vali. He does not even know that mom survived her fate and lived in secrecy with me and Vali.

I turn to the next occupant as I suppress the uncomfortable thoughts and memories. He reeks of nervousness. He holds himself in a proud manor, jutting his chest out with his shoulders thrown back. I watch him pace back and forth for a moment, studying him. I wonder if he is to be my new dad and is worrying over me. I smile at the thought. It is good to see that he cares if it is him.

He is wearing jeans and a gray t-shirt that has a hole in it around some sort of bright light in his chest. I wonder what the light is and tilt my head to the side slightly as I look at it. I use my magic to try to fix my vision a bit more. I feel the immediate tiredness hit me as the soft light becomes a light blue color. I stare at it a bit more with my head tilted, wondering. What is it? What does it do? Why does he have it? Does it strengthen him or weaken him? Is it a weakness or strength? Questions without answers fill my head before I stop them, straighten my head, and look to the male called Fury.

He clears his throat loudly and the pair stops talking, my uncle stops talking to the two males in the back near and at the table, and the one I guess to be my new father stops pacing. They all turn to look at Fury. I always knew he is a figure of power; a real leader.

It faintly registers in my head that all of them are of a much lighter skin color than I am use to just as Fury is of a slightly darker one. I don't pay it much heed, however, as Fury begins to speak in a language that I am not familiar with. I close my eyes, draw upon my reserve and left over strength, and call upon my magic to teach my brain the language. Its Asgardian so it does not take nearly as much strength as I originally expected, but still quite a bit.

I open my eyes wide and clutch my chest while I stumble backwards a step as my magic takes my energy away.

"Uh. . . . Fury. . . ." I hear one of the males say. I am looking at the ground in front of me, still clutching my chest, as I wait for the magic to take all that it will. "Is he -?" I only understand a little of the question as the magic continues to work.

I feel all eyes upon me and the room goes silent. I cough loudly a few times before shaking my head, a foul taste in my mouth, and I look up to see them staring at me silently. I look over at Fury.

"Finished?" He asks me and I nod my head in understanding and agreement.

He nods back before turning back to them. I straighten back up and clasp my hands behind my back like before as the same male of before, whom I now see to be the pacing male, my possible new father, begin to talk again.

"So. . . . Is he okay? He's okay, right?" He asks, seeming fairly unsure of himself.

I sigh. 'All bark and no bite.' I think to myself quietly.

"Yeah, he's got magic, kind of like Loki." I look back up at him as he says my blood father's name. "He was probably just using it to learn the language. He doesn't have much strength for his magic like Loki does; he's limited in what he can do for the most part."

Thor looks to me as he nods his head in understanding and the female looks at her mate. The leader one exchanges glances with the short one. The pacer male also looks at me.

"Huh. Okay." He says, looking at me, studying, sizing me up. I stand up a little straighter and puff out my chest a little more but I do not move as much. I lift my chin up in a bit of a challenge as I look back at him but he never makes eye contact with me.

"It's going to be hard for you all to get use to him, I'm going to tell you that ahead of time. He's different, a _lot_ different. He was raised in an entirely different culture so he acts, thinks, and speaks, much differently than you all are use to." The one called Fury says. "Just thought I would give you a heads up on that ahead of time." He turns to the pacer male. "You are going to have a harder time with him than I realized at first." The male seems to be slightly appalled by this. "And that's solely because of Cap over there." He points to the leader male. "You'll understand what I mean in due time."

"Why not now? I don't understand now." The pacer says. I guess he is my father because of what Fury says and the way the pacer reacts.

"Because now is time for introductions." Fury replies. He turns to me a little and looks me in the eye. "Ready to meet everybody?"

I just nod my head in response.

He turns to each one of them in turn. He points first to the female. "Over there is Agent Natasha Romanoff. She's very stealthy, strong, and pretty good at getting information. She's basically a spy and an assassin rolled into one. " She waves her hand at me as I glance at her. I look back over at fury, not understanding the gestures meaning. "Romanoff is also referred to as the Black Widow. Next to her," he points to the hunter, "is Agent Clint Barton, he is also referred to as Hawkeye or the Hawk. He's a master marksman." He just gestures with his chin at me and I scowl back at him in confusion. They aren't the only ones who will have a hard time with this transition.

He then moves on to the ones over in the table area. "Over here we have Thor." He points at my uncle who waves at me and smiles. I understand smiles so I allow my mouth to twitch into a momentary smile that does not last. "He's just Thor but he packs a hell of a punch with his hammer." I look back at Fury as he points again to a different one. I look over as the short stature one smiles and waves as well. "That's Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk." I give Fury a confused look and he glances over at me. "A.k.a. stands for 'also known as' which is basically just another way of saying 'also referred to as.'" I nod in understanding and he continues on. "Bruce turns into a very large, very angry, green giant." I tilt my head at this as I stare at him in wonder. 'Such a small male turns into such a large monster?' "Next we have Steve Rogers." I look at him and he gives me a short, brief wave. "Captain Steve Rogers is also known as Captain America, he's basically the leader of this group and a whole lot stronger and faster than he looks. He's pretty much the Alpha here." I nod in understanding as I look at him. "And then we have Mr. Tony Stark." He says, motioning over to the pacer who I study once more. "Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man. He's your new father." Just as I thought. "Thor has a name for him that'll make it better for you to understand. Thor calls Tony, when he's suited up, Metal Man or Man of Iron." I tilt my head curiously at this while I study him with a newfound interest and curiosity. "He has this suit made of metal that protects him and lends him extra strength and power in many ways."

"And he is my father?" I rumble as I look up at Fury. He smiles down at me and nods his head.

"Yep." He looks over at Tony Stark then back at me. "Try not to give him to hard of a time. He might not be the leader of the pack but he is still your father. You need to try hard to listen to him more so than Captain Steve Rogers. But remember, I still run the show; you listen to me before Tony. Got that?"

I nod my head sharply then go back to looking at this . . . Tony. This . . . Iron Man. Fury pats me on the back and I look up at him.

"Here's your luggage." He hands me the handle to the suitcase. "Hope you get comfortable here quickly. Let me know if you need anything."

* * *

How you like the kid so far?


	11. Fenrir Stark

**1****st**** Person – Fenrir**

"So. Kid. What's your name?" My new father asks me as Fury leaves.

I watch Fury leave then turn back to look at my new father. "Fenrir." I reply. "A.k.a. the Wolf."

He nods his head. "The Wolf, huh?" He says looking slightly impressed.

I nod my head slowly, looking at him as if he was slow. "I've been told that now I am to go by Fenrir Stark."

The leader, Captain America or Captain Steve Rogers, tilts his head and looks at me. "What was your last name before?"

I turn to look at him. "I didn't really have one. I was just called Fenrir the Wolf Sonofnone."

"Huh," is all he says back.

"Where do you come from again?" The female, Agent Natasha Romanoff, asks me.

I don't look at her as I reply; instead I look at my father. "Pakistan."

"Do you know your real family at all?" Her mate asks me.

I look at him. "Yes. My mother gave me to Fury so that he could better protect me."

"That is a bit of a hot zone." My father quips up and I look over at him.

"Tell us about your culture kid." The leader pips up.

"What?" I ask, looking at him.

"Like how you wouldn't look at Tasha, basically just the reason why you act the way you do, stuff like that." Agent Clint Barton answers for him.

"Like the quip about listening to my father?" I ask curiously.

"And why you won't relax and sit down." Said father adds on.

"Well. . . ." I start off. "First, no one told me to go sit down; two, it would be a sign of disrespect towards Hawkeye for me to look at . . . Tasha; three, you always put the alphas first, and four, I'll only answer specific questions since I didn't understand the original question." I finish off, looking at each person who asked about what in each turn.

"How would it be disrespect towards Hawkeye?" My father pipes up.

I look at him. "Aren't they mates?" I ask, a little confused; do they not have this behavior programmed into they naturally or is it the wolf again?

My father starts to laugh along with Captain Steve Rogers while the two in question blush like little pups. Bruce just smiles a laughing smile and Thor grins at me widely.

"This boy of yours is funny, Stark." Thor says from his chair at the table.

My father calms down enough to explain it to me. "We all know they like each other but they refuse to admit it so they aren't yet in any relationship of any kind."

I frown. 'Why would they not admit it? This place is so strange.' "I don't understand that."

"Don't worry about it." Bruce Banner says in reply.

My father approaches me and I tense up.

"Relax." He says soothingly. "Here is nothing like where ever you are coming from. Everything is completely different here." I relax a little as he says that and he walks up to me and stands in front of me looking down at me only slightly. I look up at him and see him smile. He is not that much taller than me.

He pulls me into a tight hug, smiling like a fool. I relax a little more after a few seconds and tentatively hug him back. I feel him grin wider.

He leans back and I let go, looking at him. He looks me in the eyes with his hands resting on my shoulders. "I'm excited to finally meet you." He tells me.

I smile a little. I haven't smiled in a long time. "I'm glad to have met you too." I say back to him.

Cautiously I lean back in and give him another tentative hug. He hugs me back again and I relax into the hug, smiling and closing my eyes as I lean my head against his chest. I made sure that Fury didn't tell him the truth. That I have been separated from human contact for about 4 years now. It's been that long since I've gotten a hug, smiled, or did anything pertaining to human behavior. That's the real reason why I act the way I do. I also left out the fact that for the past 4 years I haven't even lived in Pakistan; they didn't need to know that just yet.

I sigh happily, opening my eyes. I look up at my father and he smiles down at me with actual happiness in his eyes. I grin up at him and let go again, straightening back up.

"Here," he says, taking the suitcase from me and motioning for me to follow him, "let me show you your room. It's right next to mine." I smile and follow him as he begins to walk back to the elevators. I look over my shoulder at the others one last time. I see that some of them are talking quietly and others are watching my father and I. I smile faintly at them and wave shortly over my shoulder. I don't know what it means but it seems like the right thing to do. The ones watching smile and wave back. Looks like I was right again.

In the elevator I look at my father, studying his movements for a moment. He's still nervous; I wonder when he will stop being so. We only rise up a few more levels so we aren't in there for very long before it dings once again. Once more I notice that it is a T section for the two elevators as we walk out. I follow him around the corner and see that it's basically just one long hallway with lots of doors.

As he begins to walk down the hallway he begins to talk as if it's a tour. "The first door on your left is Tasha's. The first on your right is Barton's. The 3 on the left and the 4 on the right after those are empty. The 5th door on the left is Loki's." I look at him at this then stop and stare at the door to my blood father's room for only a split second before catching up to my new father. "The one next to Loki's is empty just like the one across from it. The 6th door on your right is Steve's. He likes to keep an eye on Loki. The 3 doors on both sides following that are also empty. Now, this door," he points to one on the right that appears to be more spread out than the others, implying a bigger room, "is Bruce's room. He gets the bigger one even though he insists nothing will happen. But safety never hurt." I smile at that. "Bruce is also surrounded by a few more empty rooms, imagine that, and then we get to ours." He wonders down the hall a bit further before coming to ours. I noticed that all the rooms that have occupants have some sort of different coloring on their doors but I can't identify the colors. I notice that his is colored differently too as he points to it. "My room, your room." He points to mine and I notice that the door is white like the empty room's doors. "I don't know what colors you like so it hasn't yet officially become yours color scheme wise."

I give him a confused look and he explains. "We put a two color, color scheme into the rooms as a way of personalizing it as it matches with the personality of the person. This one is still just straight white. No other colors in it."

I look back at the door. "I'm color blind." I say simply as I stare at the white door.

I feel him look at me for a moment. "You-your. . . . Your color blind? . . ."

I look up at him and he has a puzzled look on his face. I nod my head and smile faintly. "You're the only one who knows." I slide the backpack off my shoulder and show him it. "Why else would I have chosen this color backpack?"

"Huh." He says, looking at it before looking back at me. "There's several different ways of being colorblind, how are you?"

"I don't understand the question."

"Do you see in black and white, is it just a few colors you can't see, are your colors mixed up?" He elaborates more.

"Oh. I see blacks and whites and grays. But I'm constantly using my magic so that I can see other colors. There are just so many of them and the magic is so tiring." I say a little whiney like.

He smiles at me. "Don't worry about it kid. Do you have a color you like, though?"

"I like dark grey and this dark green." I reply.

He thinks for a moment. "Do you have enough strength to bring another color into your mind?"

I give him a confused look. "It depends upon how much of it there is."

He begins to walk back down the hall and I chase after him. He stops at my blood father's door – how ironic – and points at it. "That enough color?"

I frown and think for a moment, staring at it. There are little lines of tarnished gold swirled around in the grayness that must be a dark green of some kind. Why else would he have brought me over here?

I shake my head no and he knocks on the door and shrugs at my confused look. "You're probably going to end up meeting him sooner or later."

We both here a muffled "come in" through the door and my dad turns the knob and opens the door.

He starts to walk in. "Bet you weren't expecting me, huh?"

I stand outside as he opens the door all the way and walks in a bit further. I am too nervous to really move. I don't want anyone to find out and the closer I am to him the easier it is to deduce. I suppress a nervous whimper and shift a little.

I hear him sigh. "What do you want, Stark?" He asks, sounding a little peeved.

"For you to meet someone." He replies with ease.

My dad seems to perk up at this; I can hear it in his voice. "Your new son?" He asks him. "Where is he?"

My dad looks back at me and I hide my nervousness before he sees it. He grins at me. "Come on in." He looks back at my blood father. "His name's Fenrir. Fenrir Stark."

I walk in cautiously. And study the room before I look at my blood father. I am immediately distracted when I see just how much tarnished gold and the gray that resembles the green is in here. I grin; this is more than enough to for me to be able to do it. I look at the wall behind Loki's bed and quickly use my magic to add the green to my color wheel. I have to hide my look of awe at the beautiful green I have been looking for, for so long when the magic is done.

I lower my eyes form the green and look at Loki. He is studying me and I blink. 'He has a Rubix Cube just like me!' Flashes through my mind. 'Is that where I get my love of logic puzzles and brain teaser from? My father? Does he like them too?' I wonder curiously. I glance at my father before I look back at Loki and study him once again. He has on black jeans, a green t-shirt that matches his color scheme, and is barefooted.

My mouth twitches in a brief smile as I study him. And he motions for me to come over to him. I wonder briefly why he is on the bed and won't get up but I suppress it quickly. I sigh mentally and walk over to him. He motions for me to lean over so that he can whisper something into my ear and my heart flutters in fear. I have never been so close to my father before. I had seen my uncle from a distance once but I only saw my father in my mother's pictures of him.

"Do you like pranks?" I give him a confused look then turn my head back so that he can whisper into it some more. "Do you like pranks? Tricks? Jokes? That kind of thing."

I shrug. "I'm not overly fond of them." I whisper back when in actually I inherited quite a bit of that from him.

"Would you like to pull a prank on your new father?" I give him a look like he's crazy.

"Isn't that getting off on the wrong foot?" I whisper incredulously. And yet . . . I want to do it. No surprise there.

He smiles at me. "Your father needs to learn responsibility; don't you think that getting off on the wrong foot is exactly what he needs?"

I think it over for a moment before I look him in the eyes and smile my devilish smile. "What are you thinking of?"

He grins at me. "Just a small, harmless prank." He winks and I catch on. I try not to laugh as I straighten up.

"It's good to meet you." I say, smiling as I put my hands in my pockets.

* * *

Looks like Tony's about to get it, huh? XD


	12. Lost And Found

**3****rd**** Person**

Fenrir and Loki quickly taught Tony what Narvi taught Loki: kids are a full time job with no pay and a lot less breaks. Fenrir every morning woke up early and snuck into Loki's room so that they could come up with what to do for the day. Stark only got a day off whenever one of the two decided that he deserved it; that's the way it is and that's the way Fenrir put it.

Fenrir never slept at night so he often times would be wondering the halls of the Avenger's Tower when Tony was informed by Jarvis of Loki's nightmares. When Tony realized that Fenrir didn't sleep at night he told the boy to take over for him and so Fenrir did. For the most part Fenrir randomly snoozed during the day and hung out with Loki during the night. Loki was excited by this since Fenrir would sneak Loki out of his room and together they would wander the halls.

Tony made the mistake of giving Fenrir as much power over Jarvis as he did. Jarvis had to obey Fenrir when he was told by him to not reveal their nightly adventures. Before long, Loki and Fenrir had explored most of the Avengers portion of the tower (the lower levels were Stark Industries type levels) and discovered many fun things such as a pool and an ice skating rink. When they didn't feel like exploring they would swim or skate, whatever the two felt like doing.

Fenrir knew that it was risky to be spending more time with Loki than Tony but he didn't really care. He pulled pranks on everyone and Loki pulled pranks on Fenrir. Fenrir loved that he could goof off and be himself with Loki more so than with Tony or any of the others. His blood father was almost like a brother to him because of things like this.

When Loki discovered that Fenrir had magic he started to teach Fenrir things that he could never have dreamed of. He taught Fenrir that why he lost so much energy was because he was doing it wrong. He taught him the right way, taught him more tricks, more spells, and helped him to unlock his full potential. Soon Fenrir was making glasses disappear from people's hands letting the liquid run free and usually splash onto their laps. He was transporting choice items in front of people so that they tripped and fell then made the items vanish so that it seemed like the people had just tripped on their own two feet. Once, he even managed to turn Loki into a kitten. He smiles every time he thinks of it.

He stopped pulling pranks on Bruce when Tony showed him a few videos of the Hulk and told him that Bruce had no control over the other guy. He became more careful about pulling pranks on Tasha after she kicked his ass. When Barton threatened to put an arrow in his ass and Fenrir realized that he really wouldn't do it Barton began to be the test dummy (previously it was Tony) for all his new pranks. Tony got everyone of them that worked twice after that to make up for the loss of pranks.

Tony quickly learned just how bad a kid could get. Especially after Loki told him (laughing of course) that Narvi was nowhere near this bad and yet considered the worst kid on Asgard.

Tony groans as he gets up. He's sore from the day before, sore from the day before that, and pretty much sore from every day that had at least one prank in it. Fenrir is a violent child; he had long since decided that. Too bad he only kept getting worse. Tony knew that Fenrir had only been trying to help him but he still wondered as to why the kid had to be so rough with it. He sighs as he sits on the edge of the bed. After a few moments he sighs again and then gets up with a groan. He limps sorely to his bathroom.

"Another day, another prank, another bruise." He mutters darkly to himself. Fenrir considered one prank in the whole day to be a break but Tony didn't see it that way. He knows that Fenrir just wants to help Tony learn some responsibility but he still doesn't enjoy it. He could tell that he is starting to get some control over the kid and Steve certainly seems to agree that Tony is a bit more responsible now too so that's a plus.

Tony walks to the table tiredly a little while later. "Hey, have any of you seen Fenrir?" He asks. Normally Fenrir is the first to the table, even before Steve, which was a bit of a shock at first.

"I haven't seen him at all." Steve replies as the others murmur similar answers.

"Just glad he stopped turning people into animals in the morning." Bruce muttered, taking a bite of cereal.

Tony frowns worriedly. What is he up to now? He fixes himself something to eat and sits down. He waits a moment, giving his food a routine check over. He is _not_ about to eat another cricket. Once he has determined that his food is safe he takes a tentative bite. After that he eats hurriedly, just like he always does. It is the same routine every day. Except that Fenrir still hasn't showed up.

He gets up, cleans his dishes, then goes to find Fenrir. He opens the door to the gray and dark green room and does not see his son. The stuffed animal wolves are not piled up in a little barricade like once before. All his brain and logic games are on the gray shelves with his books in the green and gray bookcase. And his green bed is all made up. Tony frowns. Where is he? He wonders to himself.

He goes over to Loki's room and knocks on the door. "Come in." Same as always.

He opens the door and looks around. "Have you seen Fenrir?" He looks at Loki, starting to get worried.

Loki shakes his head no. "Have you tried the pool? Or the ice skating rink?"

Tony stares at him for a moment. No wonder Fenrir seemed tired but happy in the mornings sometimes. He closes the door and goes to check the pool. Nothing. He checks a few other choice places before going all the way down to the ice rink.

"What the –!" Tony whispers disbelieving and incredulously. He walks over and stares out at the ice through the glass. He can't believe what he's seeing. He goes over to his panel. "Uh . . . Jarvis?" He whispers. "Tell the others to get down here."

"Yes, Sir." The posh voice replies quietly. "Sir, I would like to inform you that –"

"Quiet Jarvis." Tony whispers quickly.

"But, Sir –"

"Quiet." Tony snaps quietly. He doesn't want Jarvis to ruin his position. "Tell the others to be quiet when they come too."

He sees the familiar clothes all folded up on a bench not too far away from him and wonders what the hell is going on here. He runs a hand over his face worriedly and then runs it through his hair, staring out across the ice. The ice begins to change colors and he immediately becomes worried. He quietly goes to were the skates are stored and starts to put on his skates. He was never much of a skater but he liked to skate every now and then.

He knows that he hasn't skated in a long time and will probably suck at it but he is more concerned about what is happening. He hopes that Bruce gets here quickly as he goes over to the open door. He steps onto the ice and carefully skates over to where the ice is slowly changing color. He kneels down next to it and stares for a moment.

He hears a pain filled whimper and grimaces. He doesn't understand what has happened only that it is something very bad. He looks around the ice for a sign of what happened, what could've caused this, but he sees nothing. He looks back down and wonders if his magic went wrong or what it was. He has a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach and hopes to God that it's not what he thinks it is.

"Tony?" He hears Bruce call out. The pain filled whimper is emitted once more, this time louder as if in hopes of one of the two hearing it.

"Over here." He calls out. His voice cracks as he stares. Tears weal up in his eyes and he shakes his head. 'No! I have to be strong!' He thinks to himself. He looks once more and this time he can't stop the tears. Those familiar green eyes are filled with so much unimaginable pain and hurt. They don't understand why Tony won't help. A pain filled whine is emitted. There is sorrow in it, as if it had just been abandoned.

"I have not abandoned you." Tony whispers as the tears roll down his cheeks. "I am here to help. I just don't know what happened, what's going on." He reaches out a hand and buries it in the soft, plush, black fur on the shoulder. He looks over his shoulder to see the others slowly making their way across the ice to him. He does not call out about the skates; he just wants them to get here faster.

He sees that Bruce has a medical kit and smiles around the tears. He turns back to the pain filled green eyes and grips the fur gently. "Help is on its way." He whispers. He uses his other hand to wipe away the tears as he tries to pull it together.

Natasha makes it over first. "Oh gosh." She gasps quietly looking first at it then at Tony.

The green eyes never leave Tony's brown ones and Tony refuses to look anywhere else.

"What the hell happened here?" Clint asks as he stands next to Natasha, viewing the scene.

Tony shakes his head a little. "I don't know." His voice is filled with pain and sorrow as he continues to stare into the green eyes and gently grip the black fur of the unhurt shoulder. "I don't know what happened." He whispers.

Bruce is next. "Oh my." He crouches down next to Tony. "You realize I'm a doctor, right, Tony? I'm not a vet, I don't know what I'm doing all that much."

A loud, pain filled whimper echoes across the ice.

"Just . . . just try." Tony whispers, his voice cracking. His eyes tear up once more as the whimper echoes.

The green eyes close in pain and one lone, sorrow and pain filled howl echoes across the room. It speaks of regret and sorrow and everyone stares quietly as Steve joins them.

The howl continues to echo as Bruce begins trying to figure out how to heal the black wolf.

It whimpers loudly as Bruce lightly pokes and prods to help determine what is wrong. A sharp bark is emitted when Bruce lightly taps a broken bone. He feels the fracture move under his finger and winces.

He looks up at Tony. "He needs to see a vet."

"Then get one," is all Tony manages in reply.

Bruce sighs and takes out his phone to call up Fury. "Hey, Fury? We need some help. We have this black wolf –" He looks at his phone with a weird expression on his face. "What the –?"

Tony looks at him. "What happened?"

"Fury said not to do anything then just hung up on me." He looks at Tony. "He sounded like he is on his way."

Tony nods and looks back down at the wolf.

* * *

Random and totally unrelated: Lost And Found by Will Smith (awesome song!)


	13. A Healing Hand

"(Clint's thoughts on hanging out with Tony) and awesome for archery practice" (Far Too Gone by Zoya Shaf) suddenly I have this image of Clint shooting arrows and Tony running around his lab trying to escape them. . . . I think I need to get off the medicine. XD

* * *

**3****rd**** Person**

The first thing Fury does when he got to the tower is go to Loki. He does not bother to even knock; he just opens the door and looks in, "Loki?"

One startled Loki looks up from his morning meal at his desk, "Yes?" He asks with a puzzled look on his face.

"Who got you breakfast?" Fury asks, knowing the answer.

"Fenrir, of course. Why?"

"You magic, can it be used to heal?"

"What?" Now Loki is thoroughly confused; this man is all over the place! He thinks to himself. "Why? It can, but why?"

"It's Fenrir."

Loki quickly gets out of bed with a worried look on his face. He runs into his closet and comes out mere moments later changed into some hurriedly thrown on clothes (he had been wearing pajamas) and some shoved on tennis shoes that don't even match each other. Fury turns around and quickly starts to head back to the elevators. Loki races after him.

Neither feels weird as they ride side by side in the elevator; Fury's too worried about the Avengers and Loki's too concerned about Fenrir. The doors ding open after what feels like an hour to Loki. He sees that it's the ice rink and rushes out towards the ice. He knows exactly why Fenrir is here. He stops short and spins around to face Fury. "My magic. . . ." He whispers with a gasp, suddenly remembering.

The other elevator dings open and Thor walks out of it. He sees Loki and his brow furrows. "Loki?"

"He needs his power back, Thor. Fenrir needs him to have it back." Fury says as he walks up to stand next to Loki.

Thor nods, understanding that something is wrong and silently hands Loki a small, sheathed dagger. Loki takes it and attaches it to his belt feeling his magic return to him and disappears. Thor and Fury turn back to the ice and start to slowly cross it to reach Fenrir and the others. Loki materializes next to Fenrir almost instantly and kneels down next to the broken black wolf.

"Fenrir. . . ." He whispers quietly.

The wolf barely lifts its head up to look up at him and whines quietly.

* * *

**1****st**** Person –Fenrir**

Pain. All I know is pain.

'Daddy!' I think as soon as I see Tony.

'Father!' I beg inside when I see Loki.

The pain allows no other thoughts.

Loki kneels down next to me and whispers something. My wolf brain does not register the meaning of his words. It sounds like my name and something else but the roar of blood in my ears makes it hard to hear my name. If it was even said.

Every bone in my body aches, every muscle screams, every drop of blood in my body is either draining out of me or roaring in my ears. My head pounds, my vision blurs, my mouth fills with blood. I try to howl but instead blood just pours out onto the ice and the sound is strangled and cut off.

I hear voices come from above me and I try to look but the red of blood is all I see. The wounds on my head gushes the blood into my eyes and ears. I whine and whimper but the blood in my throat cuts them off. It begins to become increasingly difficult to breathe as blood fills my airways. My shoulder has become so numb from the pain that I can no longer feel my father's gentle grip of my fur.

I open my mouth slightly and let my jaw go slack; leaving my mouth open. The blood flows out more freely and soon I am able to breathe a little better as the blood flows out instead of down into my airways. I try to stay as still as possible but I am unable to; tremors begin to wreck my body causing more and more pain.

I begin to violently shake and I just want to scream and cry out as the pain nearly blinds me. I didn't think that it was even possible to get worse! I can't even hear the voices above me anymore; the blood roars louder as I shake and shudder.

Laughter fills my mind. _The_ laughter! The same laughter as before! I howl as well as I can around the blood. I howl loudly and fearfully, all the pain is gone from my howl; there is only fear now, fear and warning.

I feel a new consciousness briefly brush mine and pull it in immediately. Normally I am not one for making others feel my pain but it is too much for me to bear, they _must_ share the load! They have to! How else am I to survive? The new consciousness fights me vigorously but I hold on too tightly and they are forced to share it. It is still overwhelming.

"Fenrir?" The thought is full of the shared pain. My thoughts are just screams; the pain is too much to bear.

The consciousness tries again, "Fenrir? Fenrir Stark? What happened?"

I push the thoughts away and try to give the consciousness more of my pain. Suddenly more is taken away, as if a third joined in but I feel no third consciousness. It must be connected to the other one.

My internal screams loosen just a little; only enough to answer yes or no questions for a small period of time. "YES!" I scream back. All I can do is keep screaming inside and I feel it wince at the loudness.

"What happened?" It presses on.

I just howl back inside. It tries to take some more of the pain but I am constantly filled with fresh waves of more pain so its efforts are futile.

I feel a weird form of pain in my head and I whimper out loud at it. The blood mattes dry in the fur on my head and I feel the weird sensation of my head wounds being healed. The blood is cleaned out of my eyes and I look over at Loki, breathing heavily as I continue to shudder and shake.

It hits me that he is one of the other consciousnesses as I see the pain in his eyes. I am grateful that my father is helping me, but worried that it may be too much for him. He looks me in the eyes and smiles at me faintly. I just keep panting labouredly.

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

I look into the pain filled green eyes that are now blood free. I see him recognize me as one of those sharing his burden and the gratefulness and worry that follow suit. They are barely there behind the pain in his green eyes.

I move my hand over his neck to heal the gash on it and look at Tony to check on him. His eyes are closed and he's breathing a little heavily but I sense that he is doing fine for the most part and that he is not about to let go of the pain. He will die for his son if he has too. I was smart to keep him out of his son's mind. He would be dead by now from the pain his son feels. Asgardian wolves are hard to hurt; they have a much higher pain tolerance than another creature of the nine realms.

I look down and the soft green light heals the gash slowly. I watch as it stitches back up the muscle and then the blood vessels and skin. I feel the pain from the neck disappear and I reach back in to take the pain of his shoulders from him. It is greater than I expected and I grimace as I am forced to pass some on to Tony. He growls softly and only I can hear it.

Moving my hand once more I begin to heal the broken left shoulder and the busted and dislocated right shoulder. I see the right one pop back into place as they heal under the skin. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end at the weird sight of the muscle crawling underneath his fur. I will never get use to that portion of healing. I grimace as I watch then the two shoulders' pain dissipate from both me and Tony.

Tony sighs in relief quietly as I move my hand over the two forelegs. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath, and dip into Tony's energy. I slowly begin to heal the completely shattered bones in both legs. They had looked like jelly and I couldn't look then and can't look now. After a few more moments I feel the energy drain out of Tony and all the pain he had dissipates.

He gives me a confused look that I ignore as I pull the pain from the chest area out of Fenrir and transfer it to Tony. He grimaces as the new pain enters his body and I take the stomach pain out of Fenrir for me to bear. I can hear his screams loosen up more inside my mind as the pain once more subsides inside of him. The fresh waves of pain are smaller now and easier for him to bear, but still not enough to stop the screams altogether.

My hand hovers over his chest as I heal the fractured ribs with my own energy. The punctured lung is quickly healed once the broken rib is pulled out and then it too is healed. Next is his weakened heart. I try to give it more power but what he really needs is more blood, which I can't give, not yet.

Out of the corner of my eye I watch Tony as I give him the stomach area pain and take the pain from the worst hind leg. I grimace and close my eyes tightly. Quickly I move my hand over to heal the punctured liver, failing kidneys, and other such organs. I transfer over half of the pain from the worst hind leg to Tony when the pain he carried dissipates.

Quickly I begin to heal the leg with energy from all three of us.

Thor kneels down next to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. My concentration was already broken by the pain. I look up at him.

"Let me take some of the pain, brother." He says kindly, seeing the pain in my eyes. "Share it with me."

I nod quietly. "Fine." I whisper painfully. I close my eyes and reach out to his consciousness. I give him some pain from Tony and some of my pain; mostly mine.

It helps so that I am able now to concentrate better on the job at hand. Once again I start on the leg. I first start by rearranging the bones into their proper positions, moving bones from the foot area back to the hip and pushing the jutted out bone back into his body. Then I heal the bones back together and like they are suppose to be, next, the muscles and finally the skin where the bone was jutting through and where ever he has a scratch, cut, scrape, or bruise on there. All three of us sigh in relief as the pain disappears.

Thor chuckles a little in relief. "Please tell me that was the worst of it, Loki."

I grin a little. "Yes," I breathe heavily, "it was."

Tony collapses in on himself a little and I look at him a little worried. "Are you okay?"

He nods, grimacing. "Just . . . peachy." He says breathlessly.

I nod my head understandingly; out of the three of us he's had the worst of the pain and that's not including Fenrir. "Do you want to stop?" I ask quietly.

He shakes his head vigorously. "No. I asked for this; keep the pain coming."

I nod quietly and take the last of Fenrir's physical pain and spread it out between the three of us. I then heal the remaining muscles, bones, cuts, scraps, etc. The pain fades away with the last bruise and I sigh out as the energy drains out of all three of us. Grimacing, I lean down; placing both hands on Fenrir's sides; and I heal the fever raging inside of him. Next is the diseases raging war with his immune system then I clean up everything inside.

I look over at Tony and Thor and see that they are exhausted. I glance down at Fenrir. "I'm sorry." I whisper and tap into his energy. I quickly replenish his blood and he faints as the energy drain wipes him out. I hear Thor faint behind me and look at him for a moment. I glance over at Tony and he's about ready to faint too.

Bruce sits down next to me. "What just happened?"

"Just like any scientific experiment or reaction energy was needed. We all gave some, others gave more. Blood and shattered bones take the most energy. Fenrir's own energy and what was left of Thor's was used for the blood loss and Tony gave for the leg. Everything else was mostly me." I reply.

"Why aren't you knocked out then?"

"All I've done is sit down, eat, and sleep. I have gained lots of energy. Basically, it's because I've gotten a little chubby."

He chuckles at the last part and I surf through Fenrir's mind a little. I know I shouldn't but I look for something. He mentioned his eyesight, hearing, and something about his real father that I want to check out. I never find the father but I find that he switched his wolf and human eyesight so I give him a gift; I make it so that he can see all colors in either form. Then I check hearing and grant him another gift; I make him be able to understand as many languages as I know in both forms as well.

The energy drain is not as great on me for these menial tasks and I stretch my cramped muscles out when I'm done. I sigh and sit down better, now looking all hunched over and exhausted like Tony.

"Thank you." Bruce says, surprising me a little. "He might be a little bit of a hellion but he does still grow on you. I like the kid, didn't want anything worse like death to happen to him and Tony certainly would've broken down if that happened."

"Yes, thank you, Loki." Steve says with a curt nod towards me. I look up at the others and hear them murmur similar things and see them nod in agreement too. I'm shocked by this but too tired to show it. I never in my life would I have ever thought that the _Avengers_ would be _thanking_ ME! It is quite a shock to me but I still smile appreciatively all the same.

I look back down at Fenrir. He maybe Tony's son but he still has taught me so much about myself, about my life, and about my situation. He has changed so much in me and I understand where they are coming from; when's not pulling pranks or telling jokes he's a really good, decent kid who asks the right questions and teaches you more than you ever expected to learn. 'Talk about taking lessons from a wolf.' I muse to myself quietly with a tired smile.

* * *

Poor Tony! But this is more of a Loki story, am I right? We have to find out emotional reactions! What happened! And so much more!

Was up to chapter 16 but then realized they didn't fit really well. . . . Back to square one for chapter 14. Probably will be some time before I post it. :P Sorry.


	14. Scars, Sons, and Failures

51 reviews already! Wow! Thank you to all whom read and to all whom review! :)

The smarter you are the more bored you get. . . . Poor Albert Einstein. XD

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

I rub the faded pink scar on my wrist, looking down at it, as the memories of my time in the cell on Asgard come back to me. Fenrir once asked me why I always wore a jacket or long sleeve shirt. I was about to tell the young boy about the self inflicted scars on both my wrists and arms. I glance back up, still rubbing the scar gently, and watch Tony pace around nervously for a moment. I look back down at the scar and a shudder races down my spine when I think of the retched guards. I still wish I could smite them.

I cover up the scar with the sleeve of my green jacket as Tony draws nearer. I know he is too deeply lost in thought to notice but I am still careful all the same. Only Fenrir, after he discovered by accident, knows, and that's the way it shall stay. I sigh heavily, still tired from healing Fenrir, and look back over at the door that Tony is pacing in front of.

"Calm down, Tony, he's going to be okay." I mutter tiredly. I feel like curling up and falling asleep right now. I don't even want to get up and try and check on Fenrir. I never expected to be this tired from healing one so young and I wonder why for a few moments before I'm too exhausted to think much more on it.

He shakes his head. "No, I trust that you healed him enough but I will _not_ calm down until Bruce says that he is alright and Fenrir follows him out." He growls irritably. We all need some sleep; he's just irritated that Fenrir has slipped into a coma.

I manage to stand up. "I'm going upstairs so that I can crawl into my bed before I pass out." He just grunts back so I wander off upstairs.

* * *

When I wake up next morning I sit up feeling refreshed. I remember that Fenrir is downstairs in the hospital wing and sigh sadly. I wish that he would heal quickly. I look to the door and watch it for a few moments in hope that he will come running in like he usually does, but he does not, not this time.

I sigh, a little depressed, and relax back against the headboard. My mind drifts off to thoughts of my plan to escape. Like with a logic puzzle I try to figure out the details and solve the riddle of escaping. It consumes my thoughts for quite awhile until I think of Fenrir and, like always, the plan dissipates with memories of his warm smile.

I climb out of bed and walk over to the door. "Jarvis?" I question the voice.

"You are still free to move about." The posh voice replies.

I open the door and move out into the hallway.

"Hi, Loki."

I look at Natasha, a little startled; I hadn't expected her to _ever_ talk to me! I watch her walk down the hall, away from me, and then I turn back around and continue on my way to the kitchen.

I see Barton in the kitchen and silently get something to eat; neither of us talks to each other and neither looks at the other. I sit down at the table in the other room as Steve gives me a suspicious look with narrowed eyes. I keep my eyes on my bowl and eat quickly and quietly while he keeps an eye on me. I feel so weird being here right now and I don't like it at all.

I'm not done when Barton comes walking in but as if I'm obeying some unspoken rule I get up, put my dishes in the sink, and walk over to the elevators while he sits down and starts to talk to Steve quietly about something.

I sigh in relief when the elevator's doors close; so thankful to be out of that awkwardness and away from those two. The doors open back up in a short time and I walk out of them and back to the room. I see Tony passed out on the floor and shake my head with a sigh.

Bruce pokes his head out of the door, sees Tony, then looks over at me. He silently motions for me to come so I do. I wonder what is going on as I gingerly step over Tony and slip into the room quietly. Bruce leads me over to Fenrir.

**1****st**** Person – Unknown**

I sit there quietly, contemplating all the recent events.

'_Vali, help me! Please!'_

I sigh and close my eyes as his voice once again echoes within my head.

'_Brother! Please! Save me!'_

I grimace at the memory; his voice was _so_ full of _pain_, _unimaginable_ pain. I sigh heavily, still unable to block it all out.

'_Vali!' He screamed. 'Save me! Please! I can't take much more of this! Brother! Please! Save me from him! What did I do to deserve this?' Some of it was to me and some of it was to his attacker, Narvi. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as my twin brother begged me for help. I couldn't help him, I couldn't. If I had Narvi would only become more enraged and it would've only made it worse! I couldn't do anything but sit and listen as my brother's pain-filled voice echoed in my mind hauntingly._

I sigh once more, keeping my eyes closed, and I try to block out the memory. I succeed and quickly attempt to locate the three of them, our father Loki, Narvi, and my twin brother Fenrir. I open my eyes with a gasp as I sense Father healing Fenrir. "That bastard!" I gasp. "He never told me he found Father!" I mutter a little annoyed. I frown and try to locate Narvi. He is hidden from me so I give up on him.

I use my magic to watch Father save Fenrir. I blink in surprise when I see our uncle, Thor, crouch down next to Father. I frown at the others. 'Who are they?' I wonder. Then I notice the way that Loki and one of the others are looking at Fenrir.

The hair on the back of my neck prickles a little when I notice that one of the males is looking at Fenrir with more compassion and concern than Father. I wonder if Fenrir has denied Loki as our father and growl a little angrily at the thought. 'He promised!' I think to myself; upset.

I see Fenrir's eyes close and our uncle pass out. I watch Father for a little while longer as he interacts with the others. He goes over to the other male from before and helps him up. I see Fenrir flinch in his sleep and my eyes fly open wide. "No!" I whisper, horrified, as I realize what has happened.

* * *

Short chapter, I know. :P Anyways, I realized something. I wrote two chapters and started on a third but felt that something was missing. I am going to rewrite the second chapter, rename the third (never really started it), and make my original chapter 14 chapter 15. :) Problem solved! XD


	15. Foiled

"(Yoda voice.) Loki mean; he is. Badass; he is also. God of mischief he is. Awesome he is not. . . . Wow. Can you imagine; Robert Downey Jr. versus, as Iron Man, versus Yoda." XD Tom Hiddleston is hilarious!

Funny thought: Tony as a woman.

Other funny thought: Loki and Jarvis arguing.

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

I pace back and forth angrily. 'He's dying!' I growl to myself in my mind. 'The kid is about to die!' I keep pacing. 'I'm not even in my room! No one is around! This could be my one and _only_ chance!'

I ball my fists as I fight back the tears that threaten to spill over with the torrent of currently suppressed feelings. 'It's _now . . ._ or never.' I think to myself. 'I need to go. There is nothing to hold me back any more.'

I sit down on the bench beside me. I had tried so hard to get Stark to listen to me, to back out and not accept the kid. I've always been good with kids, Narvi taught me that. He also taught me just how well I get along with them. I had been afraid of getting close to Tony's adoptive child and that's exactly what I did.

I think back to the moment when he came in with Fenrir. How I took one look at the lean but slightly muscular, wild, jet black haired, forest green eyed kid and unconsciously decided that we would be friends. I hated it from the moment and my hatred of our growing bond continued to grow every time I thought of my planned escape. The kid ruined it for me and then I did nothing but love him for it. He got Barton and all the others to trust me more than ever before and some. And all I wanted to do the whole time was escape and plan my revenge.

I continue to sit there and fight with myself; trying to urge my butt up so that I could continue to escape. 'I've made it this far; too far to give up just yet!' I think to myself. It occurs to me that I don't want revenge. I don't want vengeance upon the Avengers any more. All I want now is to escape everything that reminds me of the kid that is currently in a coma and is slowly dying upstairs in one of the hospital rooms.

I fight back the tears and stand up. That last thought is the push I needed to continue my escape. I get up and swiftly keep walking along my set path.

Then, I hear someone crying in one of the rooms that I pass. Curiosity and surprise mix together and cause me to turn around and investigate. I look into the darkened room and listen quietly.

My eyes adjust to the darkness, "Tony?" I ask; confused.

He sniffles, "Go away, Loki." He murmurs quietly. He sounds so broken and so lost. I frown and think of Fenrir again; he would never have wanted me to leave nor would he have ever wanted to see Tony like this.

I walk over to him, escape forgotten, and sit down next to him in a chair. I stare at the wall ahead of us and he continues to sniffle and sob a little. I can tell that he is trying to calm himself down and I wait patiently, knowing that he may not calm down completely.

I am surprised when he calms down and seems to pick himself up. I glance over at him and can see the pain in his eyes as he glances back at me. He smiles sadly at me and I realize that he is only hiding his emotions; bottling them up inside so that no one can see his pain.

I frown at him. "My many experiences have taught me that hiding your emotions is not a good idea." I say quietly with a hint of warning.

He chuckles quietly, looking ahead of him. "Mine have taught me differently."

I watch him for a moment before he speaks up again.

"When you lead the life of someone as famous as I am, showing emotion is the wrong move. The press takes it in eagerly and uses it all against you in a way that only makes things worse and adds more stress and problems." He says quietly.

I look down at my hands as I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees and clasping my hands together. "In the beginning, I hid everything from Sigyn, my wife, and nothing went right. Slowly I started to tell her the truth, to admit to things, and she slowly warmed up to me. Both of us went through this one terrible incident while we were dating and afterwards things changed. I told her everything; every thought, feeling, emotion, secret, _everything_. She did the same and we became so close. Only good came from me sharing my emotions and feelings with her. Only bad came from when she hid those things from me."

He looks up at me, "when she was dying." He whispers quietly in understanding.

I nod my head. "When I say that is good to share your emotions I don't mean to everyone." I tell him, looking at him as he looks at the wall. "I just mean with one person; someone that you trust."

He sits and thinks it over a bit and I look back down at my feet. I decide that my emotions over Fenrir are what caused me to tell him that. And that my tired state is what caused me to tell him that she had died in the first place. Only Narvi (and now Tony) even knew about Sigyn and mine relationship. But Tony isn't about to know that he is only one of two other people who know.

He sighs and leans back against his chair, resting his arms on the armrests of it. "I've never really had that type of person, too busy trying to prove myself to my dad and trying to keep my mind off of all the bad memories of him. Rhodey and I were best of friends, sure, but I wasn't about to act like a girl and tell him my life's story. And Pepper helped me with pretty much everything but she didn't know how I felt, what all I was feeling, and so on, before she was my girlfriend. When we started to date, I never really opened up to her. Too afraid, I guess, but I don't really know why I never did to be honest. Maybe I had just become so use to hiding my feelings." He sighs and glances over at me.

I look up at him, still leaned over, and then look back at the wall. "Sigyn was the only one I ever opened up to. Now she's gone. Other than Thor, I have nobody. Narvi left us when he was still young. He wasn't very young but he was still a boy. He left long before she died and I lost contact with him mere _days_ after he left. I still have trouble calling Thor my brother and still refuse to call Odin father so I have no one really."

"Even after all that Thor has done for you here you still have a hard time calling him brother?" He asks sounding a little confused and judgmental.

"It's hard to forget all the memories of living in someone's shadow." I reply back.

"I know how that feels." He says quietly. I glance at him for an explanation.

He sighs when he sees that I want him to continue. "When my dad died the world looked to me. They were waiting for me to pick up where he left off and carry on the legacy that he had built up. He might have been dead but I still felt like I was living in his shadow. Every day I felt the need to prove myself his son. The reason I acted out like I did and shy away from responsibility was always because I was afraid of disappointing him. He was dead but I still felt like he was there, disapproving of my choices, hating every moment that I wasted, and feeling ashamed of all my mess ups and failures. I was living in a shadow that didn't even exist." He says quietly.

I sigh quietly. "It was a bit different for me." I admit to him. "My shadow was, and probably still is, Thor; he is bigger than me, stronger than me, tougher, older, and so on. I was hidden in the shadow of his greatness. When I was little I got picked on a lot; I was scrawny, small, and I always had a book on me. I understand that all Thor wanted to do was help me out but all he did was make it worse. He would try to protect me and all it was doing was sending out the message to all the other Asgardian children that I couldn't stand up for myself. When I found magic I launched myself into it in hope of finding out ways of standing up for myself and fending for my own. All it did was get me into more trouble when I was a little older because of my mischievous nature.

"Thor would always be king because he was first and I felt that everyone ignored me because of that. I felt pushed to the side and into his shadow as everyone recognized him as the prince who would become king. He became a great worrier, leading many magnificent battles, and I became lucky to even get mentioned as being a part of it." I sigh. "It might not be his fault, but he never did help any; in fact, most of the time I thought he forgot about me. Sometimes he would ask me to join him in a game or a small battle and I felt like he remembered that I was there but then I would either only get laughed at because the game was not something I was good at, or I would be constantly getting saved by him in battle and those times where the only stories told, not the ones where I helped to save him."

"It was hard for me growing up because of Odin as well. Thor was great, but Odin was the greatest. Everyone respected and loved him. I understand what you say about your father because that is exactly what I went through with Odin minus him being dead. I always felt like he went easy on me because he compared me to Thor, I felt like he was always trying to get me to be like Thor too. He might not have ever told me to be more like him, but it felt like it was implied. My mischief became crueler as time went on solely because of my own feelings of having cruelty directed towards me." I look down at my feet as I whisper some of my deepest feelings to this man who once hated my guts. It occurs to me that, even though our talks at night were mostly unimportant things, we still developed some sort of bond because of the few moments when they actually were important, serious, deep things. I sigh mentally at this.

'What is wrong with me? Why do I keep bonding with these people?' I think a little frustrated. 'First Fenrir now Stark; it's not right!'

Tony interrupts my thoughts. "I always wanted a sibling of some sort for selfish reasons. I never had one and so I felt that maybe, if I had a brother or sister, that maybe my father would have focused more on them and I could disappear from his disappointing gaze. I was selfish, only wanting one solely so that they could help lighten the load. Its mean, I know, but I just wanted some way to escape my father. I felt almost like he had me under a magnifier, constantly analyzing every move I made. I just wanted to escape it; to escape the magnifier; his gaze." He sighs heavily. "Maybe it's better this way, me not having a sibling, that way they didn't have to share my pain added on with sibling rivalry or the type of pain you felt. Maybe it was easier to not have one. I don't know."

I glance at him and sigh, leaning back against my chair. "Narvi never wanted a sibling and he made it known. He loved the attention way too much and we became too afraid to have another, we feared what he would do to us, to the child, if we had more. Sigyn and I decided that it was for the better to only have Narvi and none other."

"Fenrir looks a lot like you." He mutters quietly next to me. I get the feeling that he is just thinking out loud but I blink.

"Wha-what? What did you say?" I ask; looking at him with my brow furrowed.

He glances at me and shrugs. "I was just thinking that Fenrir sort of looks like you, that's all." He says.

I frown and look down. "You're right, he does." I mutter as I think on it. The more I think about it, the more I realize just how much he is like me. He has my mischievous personality, my looks, and, when I think about it, he has Sigyn's calm and thoughtfulness as well as her deep thinking mind set. I frown even more. "I wonder his true parentage." I mutter; troubled.

Tony glances at me. "What was Sigyn like?" He questions; catching on quick.

"A lot like Fenrir when he wasn't pulling his pranks." I reply back, sighing; he couldn't be my son. "I hope that he isn't Narvi's son. That would mean that Narvi is close by." I murmur tiredly. I truly do love Narvi; I just don't want the Avengers to experience his rage and unpredictably dangerous nature.

Tony shrugs. "Who knows, maybe he escaped Narvi just like Narvi escaped you."

I nod my head. "Yes, hopefully." I whisper quietly, thinking about Narvi and Fenrir. I think back to them and realize that all along, Narvi was a hint to my true parentage; he had a seemingly unexplainable love of the ice that I realize must've come from my Frost Giant heritage. I think about how Fenrir was the same way; constantly switching between going to the ice rink and having me cool down the pool to freezing temps that caused ice crystals but not a complete freezing of the water. I sigh softly as I think about how much kinder Fenrir is compared to Narvi while still being a little more dangerous than most but not quite as much as his dad.

Tony distracts me from my thoughts by changing the subject. We talk for a few more hours about all the things we've gone through; our thoughts and emotions throughout our lives. Basically, we bond, we bond almost like brothers as we realize how much in common we both share and we tell the other more than we have ever told anyone else before.

* * *

Loki foiled. Fenrir foiled, not as much. Funny though, how Loki comes to the conclusion that Fenrir must be Narvi's son when Fenrir constantly called him dad in the first chapters of his introduction. Will they ever learn the truth? Will Fenrir live (didn't Loki just heal him)? Ooo the questions! XD Yeah, I'm just that weird, ha-ha.


	16. Narvi Lokison

Sorry. If there's anything that I hate about writing it's rewriting my stuff. :P

JarvisLokiMinion is my new favorite username for stuff. XD (Yoda impression.) Find me now on Draw Something, you can. Mwahahaha! XD

Anyways, sorry it took me so long to update. None of my excuses are good ones. I have started a new and awesome idea based FrostIron fic!

". . . A big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey . . . stuff." XD Love Doctor Who!

Norse mythology goes not favor Loki's children. . . .

* * *

**3****rd**** Person**

"Why did you do it?" A young girl whispers to the older, scarred, and brooding male.

The older one just shrugs before lifting his head up off his hands. "Because he shouldn't be here."

"How do you figure?" She knows he's pushing it but the girl can't help it.

"How I figure is that you're the only disappointment I need in my life." His voice rumbles with a building rage and the girl quickly hushes. She backs away a little and sits down on the ground in front of the bench. She mentally slaps herself and straightens up quickly. She learned the hard way what slouching brings.

She is looking in the opposite direction, studying the distant horizon as the older one glances back over at her. He tries to calm his rage down and quickly speaks up before his rage gets the better of him. "I'm sorry." He apologizes none sorry like. "Go get something to eat." He orders her. 'Get out of here before I hurt you.' He thinks quietly. The rage keeps the sorry out of his voice even though he truly is sorry.

The girl silently gets up. "Yes sir." She whispers quietly before leaving.

He sighs heavily. He truly loves the kid, just had a hard time expressing it because of his rage. He doesn't understand where it comes from or what causes it, just that it's there and he's stuck with it. He gets up as the rage begins to get the better of him and tries to get his mind off of _him_. He doesn't know his relationship to the _kid_ and he doesn't care, all he knows is that _he_ doesn't belong here. He thinks about something else quickly, trying not to hurt _him_ further as he senses his own father near _him_.

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Tony**

I look up as Loki hands me a cup of coffee. Wordlessly I take it giving him an appreciative look before sipping from the cup quietly. I blow on it after it burns my lips more than I like. I hear Loki sit down on the bench across the room as I test the heat of the drink with another sip. I glance over at him and see that he looks probably just as bad as me.

It occurs to me that something is wrong when I see pain flicker in his eyes briefly and a look of discomfort flashes across his face briefly. Then it is all gone and I give him a confused look. He ignores my look and just watches Fenrir.

I sigh as I turn back to watch the son that I adopted breathe lightly. I watch him for a few moments more. "You tried," is all I whisper quietly to Loki.

He sighs. "Yet he is still dying."

"You couldn't have known."

"Yes I could have."

I shake my head. "No, you couldn't. He lied to all of us, he knew, this whole time, he knew."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do." I state firmly, looking back over at him. "He would tell me stories about his real mother. He told me about how she would tell him about his _real __**father**_all the time. He _knew_ this whole time."

Loki just sighs and shakes his head. "I should have realized it sooner that he is related to me, though. I should've realized it." He insists it so I just give up on my attempts of convincing him otherwise.

"What happened anyways?" I ask instead.

"Remember when I said that I had bonded with his mind? That that's how I was able to transfer the pain?" He asks me as I turn back to look at Fenrir.

I nod. "Yeah."

"Well, the bond works much differently when I'm related to the bonded. It's why it took so much longer for me to separate with Thor. I have to separate differently, establishing it is easier, but it's harder to let go without damage. I didn't know he was related so I just separated with him like I did with you. But because he is related to me and I did it too quickly and improperly it damaged his mind. It's probably beyond repair."

I look over at him. "Is there a way to fix it?"

He frowns but nods.

"How?" I ask quickly and eagerly. "I'll do _anything_, Loki."

He sighs heavily. "It would require his father, only the father can really heal as much damage as is there. Normally it's not so bad and the mother can do it but I was there for too long and in too deep, we would need his father."

I think and then whisper quietly. "Could you just try? You two are so close –"

"No," he interrupts abruptly, "only the father can do it."

I sigh heavily and sadly. "What does the father have to do?"

"Basically go in and repair everything that is messed up, putting memories back into their place, locking up the magic, healing, and more. It's a long process that his father, Narvi, couldn't handle."

I frown. "What happened to Narvi?"

"When he was very young, I discovered, the hard way, how the bond messes up the related. I was never able to completely heal him because his magic was so strong. Something inside of him is still broken; I don't know what it is, only that it causes the immense rage inside of him." He says quietly with a hint of sadness.

I look at him and can see just how sorry he is over his mistake and I feel sympathetic for him. It must be hard on him knowing what he has done to his own son and the pain that he must've put his son through.

"Must be hard." I murmur sympathetically.

He nods his head in confirmation and I look back at Fenrir while he continues to stare down at the ground in front of him. I hear him sigh as Fenrir's breathing once again lightens a bit more, his heart rate drops down a few beats, and I see the graph of his brain activity show less. I look back down at his face before reaching over and taking his hand. I just stare at his hand, rubbing circles on the back of his hand gently, trying hard not to cry once again.

It's been about a week now that he's been in a coma for. Every day around the same time everything drops a little bit; heart rate, breathing, and brain activity. What a sad fate for one so young. I wonder if he can dream, I know Bruce said that he probably can't, but I wonder all the same and I hope its happy stuff. I just want to try and be strong for him, even if he'll never know.

"It hasn't even been a year." I whisper quietly to his comatose form. "The team and I were looking forward to introducing you to Christmas. And Fury told us your birthday." I start to tear up at the last part. Bruce told us the other day that it will be around his birthday that his breathing, heart rate, and brain activity will drop low enough that everything will start to fail and shut down and cause him to die. "Only one more week and you'll turn 13." I whisper quietly. My voice catches before I can say more and a tear silently rolls down my cheek as I close my mouth slowly.

I rest my head on the rail of the bed near his hand and sigh heavily, still rubbing small circles. 'My 12 year old son who've I've known only for less than 4 months and yet have grown so close to is about to die with no hope of being saved.'

My head snaps up and to the side as I hear Loki emit a short cry of pain. I stare at him wide eyed, scared about what's going on while he holds onto his side tightly, doubled over in pain.

"Jarvis, get Bruce in here, _now_." I bark out quickly; scared and afraid for Loki who has become like a brother to me.

Loki groans quietly as he starts to fall onto his side. I jump up out of my seat and run over to him. I'm just in the nick of time; managing to catch him before he topples off the bench completely. Bruce comes in and looks at me as Loki yelps in pain. I pick the god up bridal style and Bruce quietly and hurriedly leads me to an operating room. I set Reindeer Games down on the table and Bruce quickly starts to give Loki painkillers and sedatives.

I back up and watch for a moment before my worry for Fenrir gets the best of me. I turn around and see something out of the corner of my eye. I stop short and look back for it. My eyes widen when I see it. I slowly back up and turn back towards Loki. The medicine kicks in and he stops screaming in pain. The reflection still shows it though.

I lean down to whisper in Loki's ear. "What's a reason for Narvi hurting Fenrir?"

He gives me a dopily confused look and I just simply look at the reflection. He turns to look at it and just stares same as me. He moves his arms away from his abdomen and the reflection looks back at us.

The scarred, slightly brawny, somewhat-old looking man materializes suddenly and I hear Bruce drop something behind us. The rage inside the eyes is unimaginable. It flits across my mind that even the Hulk might not be able to match the rage and hatred that burns within the eyes of the man in front of us.

Minutes that feel like days crawl by before I see the rage flicker and start to slowly burn out; it feels like even longer before it is all gone. The eyes empty of the rage but I still just stare, too afraid to do anything else. Loki's told me stories about Narvi, he warned me about him, I fear the rage and wrath that is Narvi Lokison; the man in front of me.

Narvi gives his head a quick shake and I blink rapidly, trying so hard to get the rage filled blue eyes out of my mind. I give up after I realize that they are burned there permanently and take in Narvi. Tall, slightly brawny, stormy blue eyes, scars, and straight raven black hair; he is rather different than his father and I wonder slightly if Fenrir really is Narvi's son.

A small girl steps out from behind him and I give him a troubled, narrowed eyed look. "Who are you?" I ask; my voice stronger than I expected.

The small, scared-looking girl with short blond hair and Narvi's stormy blue eyes stares up at me in silence. Narvi steps in front of the child protectively and I look back up at him in his eyes as he rumbles back at me. "Leave her be. Night is _my_ child. I will protect her till the end."

I huff, "and Fenrir? Is he your child?" I ask with narrowed eyes; my protectiveness getting the better of me, pushing away my fear.

His eyes narrow dangerously. "Do not push me." He warns nastily. "And I know not of Fenrir."

"It's the kid that you've pretty much killed; the black wolf that is _dying_." I say a little angrily. "He is _my_ son, adopted son, yes, but _mine_ all the same." I ground out. "And he is only 12 years of age; too young to die just yet."

Narvi just stares at me, studying me, staring me down. I straighten up a little more under his gaze, showing him that I'm not about to back down. He snorts after awhile and opens up his mouth to speak. Suddenly a tan blur tackles Narvi from the side, throwing him back into the wall.

Chaos is normally defined as all hell breaking loose. I think that it's safe to say that an extremely fast and obvious very strong wolf trying to rip out the throat of someone who could give the Hulk a run for his money when it comes to rage can be perfectly described as all hell breaking loose. Chaos is defiantly a wolf trying to kill Narvi Lokison in a small hospital room. As if that all wasn't enough suddenly I hear the all too familiar roar of the green rage monster behind me.

The Hulk bounds over to them (they broke down the wall and are currently in another room) and grabs them, separating them immediately. I sigh in relief slightly, suddenly feeling really giddy and bubbly. I watch as the Hulk holds onto them tightly. I guess that for all of Narvi's rage and evilness he still isn't stronger than the Hulk; thank God!

I walk over to him carefully and look up at the tan brown wolf still snarling and snapping at Narvi with hatred burning in its eyes. I frown; 'why?' I wonder to myself. I clear my throat in an attempt to get its attention.

The wolf looks down at me and is obviously not mad at me. "What?" It growls at me in a rough, male voice. I blink in surprise, not expecting that at all. "I am Vali and I _demand_ to be released!" Vali has a very commanding voice.

I frown at him. "Don't release him, Big Guy." I tell the Hulk and he just glares at Narvi who is glaring at all three of us in turns. "Why are you here, Vali?" I ask the wolf.

"He hurt my twin, now he shall _die_." He hisses at me; something I never thought possible for a wolf. "Just because he wants to be an only child does not give him the _right_ to try to kill us!" He barks with a growl.

Now I'm confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" I hear Narvi start to struggle even more.

"He means that Fenrir and he are my younger brothers!" Narvi growls out loud at me trying hard to escape the Hulk's grip.

I look at Narvi. "Fenrir is . . . what?" I look at Vali bewilderedly as realization dawns on me. "No! Fenrir _cannot_ be!" I shake my head in denial. "I _adopted_ Fenrir! I couldn't have adopted –!" I look up at Vali in bewildered pain and denial. "No wonder he so obviously favored him." I whisper. Feelings of pain and betrayal bubble up within me as reality and truth kicks in.

Vali stares at me in silence. His wolf eyes study me quietly, no emotions show inside of them as emotions run throughout me with similar thoughts. I shake my head again. '_He _knew_! This whole time he _knew_! Fenrir has been living here with his _real_ father this whole time! Fooling us and lying to us! Tricking us all into thinking that he had been abandoned by his parents! When this _whole time_ the truth was that his father is __**LOKI!**_' I can't handle it and begin to feel dizzy. I stumble back a little.

The Hulk throws the two behind him and changes back down into Banner almost immediately. Banner runs forward and catches me quickly as I start to collapse. It occurs to me that something must be wrong moments before passing out. The last thing I see is Narvi's throat being ripped out by Vali.


	17. Bittersweet Pain

I have horrible writer's block right now so this chapter shall more than likely start out bad and then pick up. That's pretty much how all my writing works.

My procrastination and own humbleness would like to give shout outs at this moment. I give thanks to **HeartsNaruto** and **Oomara13** because they have reviewed on pretty much every chapter. :) I want to also give thanks to **Oracle Oci** and my Chapter 1 **Guest **as their critical reviews help me to better my writing and understand better the inner workings of my readers' minds. XD And I'd also like to give a shout out to **Lifedrops** for their fantabulous idea and heartfelt review on chapter 16. You also cracked me up with your awesome Chapter 3 review when you quoted me. (I SHALL find a way to convince the characters to try and work in your idea. They just do what they want, though, and have moved the story on into something quite unexpected for me.) **ParanoidSchizo91**, your question in your Chapter 10 review made my day when I saw it. **BlackxValentine** your comment on my Fury made me feel bubbly inside and I still think back onto it. I just hope I'm not trying too hard to keep him great. And I feel like I'm about to fail with him in my other story. :P **Alitote** because even though you hit me in the face with a lunchbox and call me stupid every now and then you are still an awesome and funny friend. And also because you are sort of my Beta Reader. And everyone else who has reviewed!

And by the way, for those of you who are wondering, I don't really edit or go back over because if there's anything I hate about the writing process it's editing. _ I just don't like going back and editing because then I edit so much that it becomes crappy and suddenly I'm missing the original or the best one. (I don't edit, I rewrite. And rewrite and rewrite and rewrite etc.)

But Chapters 12 and 13 were gone back over and Beta'd by my awesome friend **Alitote**! :D

O.O That's a lot up above. (368 words!)

* * *

**3****rd**** Person**

Tony's mouth quirks into a smile in his sleep.

_He opened the door to Fenrir's room only to hear a war cry being emitted and suddenly be hit with a bunch of suction cup arrows. Most of them stuck and he heard Fenrir cracking up laughing. He smiled and opened his eyes back up (he had closed them when the first arrow hit and stuck to his forehead). He smiles down at the boy who is hidden in a mass of pillows and stuffed arrows that formed a makeshift barricade._

Loki begins to thrash in his sleep.

_He hears Narvi's voice in his ear, "look at me, Father! I am a monster! A horrible, vicious, violent monster!" His son growled in his ear while he used his magic to allow him to plunge his hand into Loki's chest and begin squeezing the life out of his heart. Loki moaned, "I'm sorry, Narvi! I'm so sorry!" He moaned to his son, the son whom he had broken and turned into a rage filled monster. Narvi's eyes tear up and he only squeezes harder. Betrayal, hurt, and anger are very evident on his face as he starts to cry, killing his father slowly and painfully._

Fenrir just watches the difference between his father and his adoptive dad. Vali sits down beside him looking down at his hands as he busies himself with cleaning his already cleaned nails. Fenrir sighs and looks at Vali. "How did you do it?" He asks softly and quietly.

Vali sighs softly. "Tricked dad into healing you in his sleep. He thinks it's all a dream but he healed you."

Fenrir sits there thoughtfully and watches Loki for a moment. Vali still doesn't look up at him. Fenrir looks back down at his brother. "Vali –?"

Vali looks up at him sharply and cuts him off quickly, looking at him with stern and narrowed eyes. "Why?" He demands. "Why didn't you ever tell him? Why did you _lie_ to him like that?" The anger in his voice is becoming more sharp and pronounced with each word and Fenrir closes his mouth quietly and stares back at Vali with shame in his eyes. "Why keep the truth from _our __**father**_? What good did it do you, lying to him like that?" The disgust and anger in Vali's voice and eyes makes Fenrir want to curl up into a ball and go die in a hole, he had never seen his brother so angry with him. "What in Odin's name could have _ever_ compelled you to do that?" Vali isn't shouting, he never needed to shout; he is too hard to anger. Vali, normally so cool, calm, and collected, is one you don't want to see angry, because when he got angry, he got _angry_. With all his magic and cunning, he could pretty much win any battle or fight, which is why Bruce Banner is now figuring out what to do with the lifeless body of Narvi instead of monitoring Loki and Tony. Though he doesn't know that Fenrir is better either.

Fenrir tries to look away, anywhere but the hatred and disgust in Vali's eyes, but he can't seem to bring himself to talk, let alone move. He has no good excuse, no good reason, and he knows it. There is one good one, one that would get Vali to apologize and let go of all his anger and disgust quickly, but Fenrir is to terrified to remember it. He saw what Vali did to Narvi without a moment's hesitation.

Vali continued to glare into Fenrir's eyes, as if searching for his soul, and Fenrir continued to stare back into Vali's eyes in terrified silence. He heard the heart rate monitor's beeping for Loki go back down to normal and heard Loki's thrashing cease. He does not wonder as to what dream Vali gave Loki this time, he does not wonder or think at all, too terrified to. He's like a rabbit, standing still in fear of movement alerting it's predator to its location, only Fenrir is still both physically as well as mentally, and is afraid rather of doing or thinking the wrong thing and alerting Vali to it, ticking him off further and causing him to lash out. Fenrir the wolf has become Fenrir the rabbit. Fenrir's wolf half screamed at him to drop the eye contact; that it would only piss off Vali further; challenging him like this, but Fenrir did his best to ignore it.

Vali huffed and Fenrir flinched. Vali shook his head and Fenrir trembled slightly. Vali looked away disgustedly and Fenrir collapsed inside. Vali stared glaringly ahead of him and Fenrir's mind wheeled as he gasped for breath quietly; he didn't realize that he had stopped breathing. Vali snorted when he heard Fenrir breath again. He looked over at his bro- no, at Fenrir, the stupid wolf pup, with cold, accusing eyes. Fenrir tried hard not to look back over at him. Vali looked back ahead of him with a glare.

Silence stretched the minutes long and they ticked by like hours. About 10 minutes had passed before Fenrir spoke quietly with a hushed voice. "Mom would never have approved."

Only 5 words yet the implications are enormous. Vali blinks rapidly as his mind works furiously. He thinks about it quickly and looks over at Loki. He is quiet; face thoughtful; eyes clear of emotion. And then he frowns.

He gets up and walks over to his father. His face turns to one of bitter sadness as he lays a hand on the rail and looks down at his father's sweaty face. He watches him with sad, bitter eyes for a moment as his mind works over what he has done. He removes his hand from the rail and lightly runs a hand along his father's hand in a light caress. Oh how has he longed for the moment when he would finally get to meet and touch his father. He had dreamed of this moment for so long, and now that it has finally come, all he can feel is a bittersweet sadness. Oh how painful it is, to finally met ones father but to find him hurt, broken, and weak. To find him in a coma and to therefore only get to see him but not to be able to talk to him, to be able to touch his hand, but to not be able to hug him. Vali sighs heavily and sadly.

He looks up and sees that Fenrir has quietly moved and is sitting in the chair next to his other father's bed. Vali's eyes are sad as he thinks of what he has done to Fenrir, he never touched him, he didn't have to, and Fenrir is probably scarred just from everything that was transmitted between his and Vali's minds. Vali sighs quietly and looks back down at his father, gently running his fingers along his father's hand in a gentle caress; one of misery and sadness to Vali.

Fenrir stares at the man he called father for the longest time. He thinks back to everything that Tony has done for him and wishes that he could just lay down next to him and curl up against his father whom would wrap an arm around him protectively and caress his arm gently, shushing and telling Fenrir that it would be alright, that everything was going to be fine and get better. A tear rolls down Fenrir's cheek and he sniffles quietly, staring at his father with unshed tears forming and clouding up his vision. He feels gentle arms softly embrace him comfortingly and he starts to cry quietly. He turns his head and buries his face into Vali's chest and weeps quietly for his father.

Vali just sits there in the chair he had pulled up and gently holds Fenrir comfortingly. He studies the man in front of him and wonders slightly as to why Fenrir cares for him so much. Vali barely has to dip into Fenrir's mind to find all of his memories of this man whirling around inside his mind. Vali sees all, good and bad, and he watches the memories in silence as Fenrir cries into his chest, making only a choking sound every now and then as he tries to breath in around a very painful sob. Vali holds him as he sees a man who nurtures Fenrir and loves him and his many flaws, a man who still smiles and holds love in his eyes while he looks at Fenrir even though he is in terrible pain because of him. He sees many memories like this, where Fenrir causes him pain but he still gives him a genuine smile and looks upon him with love filled eyes.

Vali understands now and he holds his brother tighter. Fenrir had always been a lot like Loki; showed by his other brother, wanting nothing more than a father who would recognize him as the son he is and treating him as his own person, not the least favorite version of another child. It wasn't Vali's fault that Sigyn accidently favored him over Fenrir. And Sigyn never really realized that she was favoring Vali way more than Fenrir. It had never occurred to her. But no one can blame her, Vali, or Fenrir. Fenrir couldn't be held responsible for not knowing how to change out of wolf form and one can't blame Sigyn for favoring her "human" child to her Asgard wolf child. Just as Vali couldn't be blamed for being in his "human" form at birth.

He sighs internally; Fenrir had left them too early for Vali to have been able to try and correct the mistake made by his mother and him. He was like his father in that he loved the attention and he never really realized what it was doing to his brother every time he hogged all the attention his mother gave him and more. Vali rocks Fenrir slightly, trying to help calm down his brother, as he hides his thoughts from Fenrir.

Fenrir sniffles every now and then as he begins to calm down. When Vali releases him and Fenrir leans back a little, Vali is heartbroken by the sight and looks at his brother with melancholy eyes. All he is looking at now is the broken shell of the bubbly Fenrir he once knew. Fenrir's eyes are dull and empty looking, he sits slumped over with a gloomy and depressed look on his face, and he rocks himself slightly. Vali looks on with melancholy and appalled eyes.

Vali feels his mother's warm embrace moments after he hears her approach. Fenrir is too far gone down depressed road to even recognize his own mothers smell, that or he has no care for her. Sigyn hugs Fenrir tightly but he does not respond, he only stops rocking momentarily. She presses her lips to his head in a gentle kiss and keeps her arms wrapped around him in a tight but comforting embrace. She knows that Fenrir long ago rejected her, but she still hopes to redeem herself to him. She hates herself for doing to Loki's son exactly what had been done to Loki and fears what her ex-lover may think about it.

She sighs and lets go of Fenrir with an, "I'm sorry," and hugs Vali again who only hugs her back half-heartedly. Loki's and Fenrir's states are hard on Vali and he feels mentally and emotionally drained from it all. Sigyn stands up and looks at Loki with the same bittersweet eyes that Vali had given him earlier. She walks over and sits down next to Loki, holding his hand in hers gently.

One of the hardest things is seeing a loved one in a hospital bed in bad condition. Suddenly the weight of it all comes crashing down when you see their broken form and it causes one to wonder as to what their fate maybe. Tears wheal up and threaten to spill over as emotions run rampant in one's mind when they see a loved one look so broken and worse for wear. It's a hard thing to experience.

Sigyn fights back tears as everything comes crashing down on her. From her betrayal to her love, Loki, to his current state being semi her fault, she tries so hard to fight back the onslaught of tears. Everything that Loki has gone through because of her lie to him, because of her stupidity, because of her words to Narvi, and especially the pain that she has caused his sons, all of it weighs her down and the tears silently begin to roll. There is no hope of fighting them and she just lets them flow silently as she stares down at Loki's broken from with bittersweet pain and sadness echoing deep within her eyes. Guilt, among other things, fills her mind as she rubs her thumb in circles on the back of Loki's hand. She can't believe what she's done, what pain she's caused him, what pain she's cause his children.

This broken man in front of her deserves so much more than what he has received and she has only furthered his punishment, pain, and torture. She cries silently, hoping that he will finally find peace in his life. Deep down she hopes he dies for his sake, so that he does not have to endure the torture of life further. She hopes deep down that he can feel death's warm embrace, and deep down she believes that he would readily accept it, what she doesn't know, however, is that he truly would accept it, that even he currently hopes for it, wishes for it, longs for it. She does not know the truth.

* * *

"One of the hardest things is seeing a loved one in a hospital bed in bad condition. Suddenly the weight of it all comes crashing down when you see their broken form and it causes one to wonder as to what their fate maybe. Tears wheal up and threaten to spill over as emotions run rampant in one's mind when they see a loved one look so broken and worse for wear. It's a hard thing to experience."

Recently, my mom was in the hospital, I fought back those stupid tears with a burning passion much like I do now due to the memories. Loved ones in the hospital is just such a hard thing to cope with and handle. It is so full of fear and uncertaintly.


	18. Calm Down, Big Guy

Sorry for the long time to update! I got a serious case of writer's block at the end. I _**REALLY**_ hate this chapter and it bugs me because I feel like it's needed but yet not needed. I was stuck between deleting it, making it its own chapter, or continuing it. I couldn't do the first or last so. . . . I hate it.

And I owe **Lifedrops** sooo, much! I _completely_ forgot about Jarvis and any alarm system of any sort! :O Thank you for reminding me! Though it shall help serve to make for some interesting next paragraphs, the alarm system; after all, who controls the alarms/Jarvis and what's his current state? ;)

"It's always good to have funny in your dark."

* * *

**3****rd**** Person**

Bruce is up stairs, wondering how to turn off the _damned_ alarm, and trying to get to the outside platform before something bad happens. The red, flashing lights, and obnoxious noise irritates him to no end but he tries hard not to let it anger him to much as he runs up the stairs. He sighs in relief when he gets to the right level and throws open the door. Stupid elevators not working during a partial lockdown that will probably quickly become a full one if he can't figure out what to do.

He gets outside and it's like there isn't even a problem. Leave it up to Tony to keep the outside world from knowing when the alarms in a Stark-designed tower are going off. He calls Fury real quick to explain the situation. He's smart so he keeps the door open in case they lock and is surprised by how well Jarvis is able to keep the noise from escaping the building even with a door open. Then again, it was smart of Stark to keep the hospital wing from having the wretched noise from entering it; don't want to stress the patients out.

Bruce quickly tells Fury _everything_ that has happened so far; Tony fainted, no he doesn't know why, Loki is in a critical state, probably has something to do with the rage-filled, scarred-up, person who suddenly appeared out of thin air, that or the wolf who ripped out the throat of the former, no, he doesn't know who or what either of them are, yes, he is aware of how hard it is to get in undetected, yes, he knows that Jarvis should have stopped them, no, he doesn't know why they weren't stopped or detected, yes, he's aware that he needs to go and get the wolf secured, well if you would just listen to him, sir, you would know why that didn't happen, sorry, _sir_, he's just a _little_ stressed right now, and no, he will not calm down! Bruce sighs; aggregated. Just get the others here, _stat_, please, sir? No? Why not?! Yes, he is aware that they are other places with other missions but he _needs_ them before the other guy gets out! He knows he needs to calm down! How can he with all that's going on? Okay, he's hanging up now before it gets any worse but he better have back up soon. No, he isn't threatening, he's _warning_. Just send someone already! While Bruce irately hangs up the phone and sits down against the door to prop it open he is left unaware of the new visitor sneaking her way into the wing to see her two boys and their father(s). He closes his eyes and leans his head back against the door, letting out a sigh as he tries to calm himself down and reason with the big guy, telling him that it won't be long before it's time to smash.

Bruce is a little more than surprised when Thor arrives; he is also relieved. He looks up at Thor and quickly gets up. "Come on, we need to go down to the hospital wing before anything gets worse."

"What happened?" Thor demands as they enter back into the house. Bruce braces for the impact of the screeching alarm and is surprised when he does not hear it.

Bruce frowns. "Jarvis?" He asks, a little more than cautiously, standing in the middle of the room.

"Sorry," the posh-voiced A.I. apologizes, "the wolf transported himself in magically and Tony had hardwired the alarm to go off whenever that style of teleportation is used. He called it Protocol Reindeer Games and it was not easy for me to override it. I see Master Tony's vitals having increased to a healthier state by 15% while Loki's are only steadily dropping at a constant rate of 5% per hour. I predict that if he is not healed soon he may not make it to tomorrow."

Bruce frowns at this and Thor turns to him sharply. "Where is Loki?" The god demands of Bruce.

Bruce holds up a hand to the god. "Jarvis?" He questions. "Is the wolf still here?"

"Sir, it seems that the wolf has turned into a boy. I did a quick body scan and found that his DNA is very similar to Fenrir's, I think they maybe related. Also, a female who is also, scans show to be, an alien, is here. As you probably know, sir, a mother's DNA is a lot easier to connect with the child's than with the father's and I have discovered that she is the mother of Fenrir and Vali through my DNA scans." Jarvis informs Bruce steadily. "Loki is down in the hospital wing on the 62th floor, Master Thor." Jarvis adds on.

Thor looks at Bruce, when he gives him a troubled glance; Thor narrows his eyes questioningly towards Banner's troubled look. "What?"

Bruce shakes his head. "Come on, we need to get down there, stat. Fenrir could very well be in danger."

"Sir, one last thing, I scanned the body and it too is related to Fenrir, the wolf, and the woman."

"How so, Jarvis?"

"It seems that he was the brother of Fenrir and the wolf and the son of the woman. Also, the child that was with him is hiding in the hospital wing currently. My scanners show her to be in an empty room."

"Thank you, Jarvis. Can you give me a quick update on Fenrir?" Bruce asks as him and Thor step into the elevator and the doctor presses the button.

"He is as healthy as ever, sir; he seems to have made quite an excellent recovery."

Bruce's frown deepens at this. "Thank you, Jarvis."

* * *

Again, I no like. Review my story, not the chapter? XD


	19. Surprise!

**3****rd**** Person**

Tony, for all his brilliance, wasn't very good at planning ahead when it came to his protocols.

The hospital wing is located on the 62nd floor, the floor with the common room and Tony's landing pad is located on the 65th. 3 floors away is really close with an elevator, a little far apart with only stairs, and _forever_ away with a _shrieking_, _ear piercing_, _horrible_ sounding_, irritating_ alarm and _**no elevators!**_

The only part of Tony's Protocol Reindeer Games that Jarvis had managed to override is the noisy alarm, discovers Bruce and Thor quickly. Bruce begins to question Tony's brilliance in keeping Jarvis from being able to override the protocol as he heads to the stairs with Thor.

Have you ever noticed how the stairs of a building seem to _amplify_ pretty much _any_ sound? Bruce did. Have you noticed that alarms not only make you a little afraid but also a little _angry_ sometimes? Bruce did. Have you ever noticed that Tony is (sarcasm) _fucking __**brilliant**_? Bruce, most defiantly, did. And Thor learned it all . . . the hard way.

Bruce opens the door to the staircase when. . . . You guessed it! The alarm comes back on!

"JARVIS?" Bruce asks more than a little angry, annoyed, freaked out, worried, etc.

Thor quickly bonds down the stairs.

"It seems that . . . the more I try to turn off the protocol, the more it . . . fights back. . . . I think it's currently trying to shut me down. I sent Miss Potts a text telling her to keep everyone out. I'm attacking the Hospital Wing's systems in the empty rooms in an effort to create a lockdown there. Initiating Protocol Rage Monster as well." Jarvis responds. Good to hear that Tony still had some sense in him when creating new protocols. "Proto-" Suddenly, everything seems to shut down, everything but that _damned_ alarm, that is.

"Jarvis? . . . "Bruce asks; worried. It occurs to him that the Protocol seems to have succeeded in shutting down Jarvis as something _very, very, __**bad**_happens, and the Hulk is unleashed.

* * *

"Loki?" Vali hears the booming voice echo down the hallway outside and he turns in his seat near Fenrir on high alert, looking over at the door, and tensing in case its source gets nearer.

He hears heavy footsteps approaching and slowly gets up out of his seat and moves to stand, back against the wall, next to the door. He looks over at the door and drops his right hand to his side, flicking his wrist and quickly catching and spreading out the throwing knives as they are released from their catch on his upper arm. He looks over at his mother who clutches Loki's hand worriedly. He glances at Fenrir who just looks at him with dead, soulless eyes. He swallows hard at that thought and grabs his dagger from his belt with his left hand and tenses up at the door, setting his eyes back on it as the footsteps approach.

As soon as the door is thrown open Vali attacks, slashing at the intruder with a snarl and a swipe of his dagger. The intruder quickly dodges the attack and turns to Vali. Vali jumps back and throws one of his knives. It hits home on his enemy's shoulder.

He snarls as the bulky man with blond hair pulls the knife out, throws it to the side and drops a hammer down so that he is holding it better. He swings the hammer at the nimble boy who quickly dodges its power and throws another knife. The hammer hits a wall, breaking it down immediately and the knife is dodged. The hammer is thrown at the boy, its owner actually letting it go, and it flies towards his face. He drops to the ground, barely in time, and jumps back up, looking victorious, when it comes back around and hits him in the head.

Vali cries out in pain as he flies forward and lands back down on the ground. He touches his head with his hand and looks at his hand to check for blood as Thor comes over. He barely has time to react when Thor hits him in the face with the hammer again, sending the young boy flying through a wall. Vali crumples in a heap under some rubble as Thor steps through the hole in the wall.

"Where are you, violent boy?" Thor thunders dangerously. "What are you doing here?"

He hears a snarl in response as Vali lets lose his last two throwing knives and charges. The knives miss their target as he dodges them, but Thor is not quick enough as Vali jumps high in the air and arcs his knife down into Thor's shoulder in between the bones there. Thor lets out a cry of pain as the cursed blade pierces his skin and throws the wild boy off of him.

He falls to his knees and grips the blade tightly. He rips it out with a grunt and throws it into the rubble. Vali lunges at him again, a certain kind of fury in his eyes, and he picks up his hammer with a purpose in his eyes. He swings and gets Vali in the jaw mid lunge and sends him flying, yet again, through another wall.

Vali slides across the floor of the hallway, coming to a stop with his hair barely brushing the opposing wall. Thor stands in on the rubble right outside the wall, in the hallway, and looks at the boy, breathing hard as the cursed blade's magic takes its toll on him quickly. He walks over to Vali, rolls him over onto his back with his foot and sets his hammer down on Vali. He hears a rib snap but does not care.

He goes to fetch the blade and comes back to the boy who is howling and clawing at the hammer, trying desperately to get it off of him.

"Who are you?" He demands from the boy quietly. When the boy does not answer he yells it at him.

Vali pants and struggles with the hammer for a few more moments before collapsing underneath it, breathing hard. "Vali." He pants after a few moments. "Vali Lokison."

Sigyn slowly opens the door to the room and looks out at the two. Her eyes get wide as she sees Thor. "Thor?" She asks quietly, stunned.

He looks over at her, breathing heavily with a deeply confused look on his face. He looks back down at the boy. "I don't. . . ." He begins. "I don't understand. . . . Lokison? . . . I have never heard of my brother having any children. . . ."

Vali looks at him from over the hammer and suddenly Thor has a flashback to when he had put his hammer on Loki's chest to hold him place while he went to try to stop the bifrost. He suddenly sees the similarities between Vali and Loki and he collapses to his knees, staring at him. "Why . . . ?" He starts, breathlessly, overwhelmed by all of this. "Why didn't he ever. . . ." He looks at the ground, then the rubble, and then up at Vali with deeply confused and almost betrayed eyes.

Sigyn came over quietly and knelt down next to him. "Because he was afraid." She whispers quietly as she puts a light hand on his shoulder.

He looks at her with betrayed and confused eyes and meets her sad, guilty ones. "You. . . ." He groans out, understanding. "You are the mother. You are the one who bore the child."

She gives him a guilty look before looking away and over at Vali guiltily. "More than just one." She says, barely audible.

"What. . . ." He says, not believing this. Why would Loki ever keep this from him? He is his _brother!_ He understands that Loki has rejected him as his brother since he found out his heritage but this child is obviously much older than that. Obviously the child was born will Loki still called him brother. So why is he just _now_ finding out?

"He only knows about the one, not the other two." She whispers quietly.

Thor looks over at Vali and thinks back to about 12 years ago when Loki seemed more antisocial and quiet than normal. He never figured out why Loki seemed so upset but now he thinks he is on to it. He looks back at Sigyn. "Is he 12?" He asks quietly.

She nods her head a little. "I thought I was dying so I left him." She whispers quietly. "I used my magic to make it look like I passed away in my sleep. Both of those had the good intention of trying to make it easier on him."

His eyes soften as he looks at her. He sees the great sorrow and hurt etched onto her face. "He hasn't been the same for the last 12 years or so." He whispers quietly and sees that this only upsets her more. "He would be overly joyful to know that you are alive."

She shakes her head furiously, closing her eyes on the tears. "No." She says with a chocked voice. "He will be greatly upset. I have caused him nothing but pain and harm. The last thing he needs is to see me." She says bitterly with an absolute conviction.

He looks at her with sympathetic eyes. "I bet he will understand enough to accept you back." He whispers quietly.

She looks at him with a sad smile on her face. "Oh Thor, you always have to believe in the best of people, don't you?" She gently cups his cheek and looks him in the eyes as she rubs gently. She drops her hand and her eyes fill with bitter sadness. "I never knew Loki to be an easily forgiving soul. He will never trust me again." She looks over at Vali. She sighs heavily. "Please remove your hammer from your nephew's chest."

Vali stares up at the ceiling, biting his bleeding lip (bleeding from his bite), as red spots enter his already blurry vision. Tears streak down his cheeks as he thinks happy thoughts, trying his _damndest_ to tune out the pain. Thor gets up and removes the Mjolnir from his chest and he gasps and quickly struggles to regain his breath. "Odin's Beard." He gasps at the sudden removal of the weight. He rolls over onto his side gently and curls up in the fatal position.

"Oh Vali." His mother murmurs worriedly and scared as she gets up and goes over to him. She brushes his hair out of his face and he looks up at her with tears in his eyes. He makes a strangled sound of pain in the back of his throat like Loki had done after the Hulk redecorated Tony's floor with Loki's body prints. "Please heal yourself." She murmurs to him quietly, looking down at him with melancholy eyes; obviously blaming herself for the incident. She's blamed herself for almost everything ever since an argument between her and Narvi where he blamed her for everything.

Vali closes his eyes and tries to concentrate hard enough to heal himself but the pain is to blinding and he is too tired. He opens his eyes back up and the tears of pain escape him once more. She hugs him to her tightly but not too tight.

Thor sighs quietly. "I am sorry . . . nephew." He says the word as if he still can't believe that he has one.

Vali looks over at him with pain filled eyes. "If you pierce my skin with the blade it will cancel out the effects and heal both of us." He squeaks out.

Thor nods his head and approaches Vali very unsure like. He sucks in a huge breath and, gently, stabs Vali in the shoulder then quickly takes it out. Vali bites down on his lip harder and it bleeds from his extra sharp teeth, but not too long after the blade's magic takes effect and slowly heals them both. Vali sighs in relief minutes later and collapses tiredly against his mother, feeling quite appreciative over the removal of the pain. "Thank you, uncle." He mumbles tiredly. His words are muffled because his face is pressed against his mother's shoulder but Thor smiles at him, understanding his words anyways.

"Welcome, Vali." Thor says with some happiness. At least Vali accepts him as family, even if Vali's father does not. But then again, Thor thinks, maybe Vali still does not know. He frowns at this thought and looks down at Vali. He decides not to ask about it as he sees Vali's eyes slowly close from the exhaustion.

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

I wake up to a cool, dark room. I look around but can see nothing past the darkness. I slowly sit up, sliding backwards a little as I do so that I do not move far from my spot. I feel the soft coolness of sheets under my hands and look around. There are some small noises and tiny lights in the room as I glance around. My eyes adjust to the darkness yet I can still barely make out anything. . . . Where am I? . . .


	20. Thanos, For Real

Don't hurt me! It's the characters! They do what they want! (Hides.)

* * *

**1****st**** Person – Loki**

I wake up to a cool, dark room. I look around but can see nothing past the darkness. I slowly sit up, sliding backwards a little as I do so that I do not move far from my spot. I feel the soft coolness of sheets under my hands and look around. There are some small noises and tiny lights in the room as I glance around. My eyes adjust to the darkness yet I can still barely make out anything. . . . Where am I? . . .

I put a hand to my chest, having the inkling feeling that I'm not in a good place, but my hand is stopped short by something. I look down at my hand and squint in the dark, hoping to make out whatever it is. I see wires and an IV line. My eyes go wide and my heart speeds up. A faint beeping in the background speeds up with my heart, _it must be a heart rate monitor_, I think as I look around for it, slowly setting my hand back down on the bed. The last thing I remember is being in a hospital room with Tony and Fenrir. I had felt kind of like Tony was a brother to me. Fenrir was like a younger brother . . . or a son.

My eyes take in the light from around the room and adjust to the darkness a little faster. I look around once more, this time being able to see. _This isn't a hospital room. . . ._ I think with a feeling of dread. I'm in a steel/metal room that's almost cage like. Not good.

I hear the sound of a vault door begin to open and I try not to look too scared. _Maybe it's a room in the Avengers Tower. Maybe I did something bad and just have forgotten it. Maybe it's just a holding cell in the Avengers Tower. Maybe . . . it's not. . . ._

The door opens and in comes Thanos. I start to tremble as all my previous nightmares come crashing back down. _Not my nightmares. Not again! Fenrir won't be able to pull me out of this one!_ For some reason, I feel like Tony won't be able to either. . . .

Thanos' rumbling laughter fills my ears and instils a new kind of fear in me. It's like he can read my thoughts when he speaks next. "This isn't another _nightmare_ of yours." He says as he slowly approaches me. "This is the _real, deal_." He says with a vicious gleam in his eyes.

I tremble more. Deep down inside I know what he is saying is true, but I still try to fight it, it can't _possibly_ be _true_. Not Thanos for _real_! No! It can't be!

He laughs again. "Try to fight it all you want, Loki, but the truth of the matter is that you are here and the _Avengers,_" he sneers the word, "are too busy with their _own_ problems to come and find you." He is next to me now. He sets a hand down on the rail of the hospital bed and I just stare up at him, wide eyed, mute, and trembling horrifically. He smirks down at me. "Several allies of mine with magical abilities have allowed me into your mind at night, allowing me to see and to learn from it. They are the reason for your nightmares. I tortured you in your dreams and peaked into your mind in the same instance." He says in a smirking and confident manner.

I silently wish to wake up in a cold sweat at this very instance as Thanos continues on. "I know more about the Avengers because of you and my allies. I have seen what has happened in their _tower_ and very well doubt that they will be coming to save you any time soon." He leers at me. "All the more time I get to spend trying to break you." He snarls the last two words and I jump when the rail snaps in his grip with a loud snapping noise. He smirks down at me. I can't talk to him, too afraid; no matter how much I wish to know about the Avengers and what is going on there, I cannot ask, I am too frozen in fear too. He chuckles and turns away from my bed. He motions to some of the men in the doorway and two of them scurry over.

He quietly speaks to them; too quiet for me to hear. They nod when he finishes talking to them and I curl up the best I can while sitting up and connected to the machines. Thanos takes one last look at me. "You disappointed me, Loki, now you shall find out why that is _never_ a good idea." He walks out of the room and the two men scurry over to me.

They quickly set to work, shutting off machines and disconnecting me from them. When everything is all said and done they motion to a third who comes in and picks me up, slinging me over his shoulder. I am too terrified to move as he carries me down the hallway, undoubtedly towards Thanos.

I come to the realization that it is just a dream when I am suddenly taken back to memories of Sigyn. I settle back on down into a deeper sleep with this but my dreams keep getting weird and upsetting. I realize that I am uneasily being woken up by them and it's when I'm half way awake that I feel the presence in my mind. I frown and realize that it is trying to wake me up, but why?

I blink my eyes, feeling tired from the short nightmare. The first thing I notice is the same noises and the white walls. I'm back in the hospital wing. I clench and unclench my hand, feeling soft sheets underneath me and the IV line in the wrist of my left hand. I roll my head to the side and see Fenrir at Tony's side.

I narrow my eyes at this in confusion and lift my head up a little. "Fenrir?" I croak out. My voice is a hoarse croak and I realize that my throat is very dry. I groan and roll my head back, closing my eyes tight as the pain slowly returns to me and the painkillers wear off.

"Dad?" I hear a hushed voice near the other side of my bed.

I'm grimacing in pain and slowly roll my head over to face the source of the voice. I slowly open one eye. A sudden numbness fills my hand from the IV and it quickly travels up my arm, helping to get rid of the pain. I slowly open up the other eye and stare up at a boy who looks pretty much like Fenrir. I relax more as the numbness takes over me completely and stare up at him, not really understanding what's going on.

I roll my head back and look over at Fenrir then roll it back and look at his . . . twin? I blink.

Worry is buried deep within the green eyes and concern is etched deeply in his face. He reaches out and gently sets a hand down on my face, cupping my cheek gently. His eyes fill with pain and tears as his face quivers into a small smile. "Dad." He chokes out before a tear rolls down his cheek. He starts to cry and I realize what is going on here. I realize what happened.

I didn't dream that I had saved Fenrir, this boy; his _brother_ tricked me into it because I'm . . . Fenrir's father. . . . That's why Narvi attacked Fenrir. It's why Narvi attacked me and told Tony that Fenrir should not be alive. But how are they . . . ?

I look back over at Fenrir. He seems almost dead, lifelessly hunched over Tony, his limp frame is barely being held up as his back is to me. A cold chill settles over me as I see similarities between his and my life. I am his blood father, much like Laufey was mine. Tony is to him what Odin use to be to me. It hits me how stupid and foolish I have been in rejecting Odin, my _true_ father. Tony is Fenrir's _true_ father just as Odin is mine. A father is not who's blood you share, it's who helped raised you, who was there for you like a father should be, who tried to protect you, even if it was from the truth, like Odin. His intentions for taking me in might not have been pure at heart, like Tony's, but he did become a father for me, like Tony. I just hope that's where the similarities stop between us.

I mentally shake myself to get rid of the cold chill and I disregard the question of how they live and lean over, pulling him into a hug with my free arm, using the one with the IV in it to prop me up. The boy hugs me back tightly with both of his arms. We embrace tightly as I hear the sound of two pairs of footsteps approach; one heavy, probably Thor, and one light, I'm not sure of who.

My heart skips a beat when I hear _her_ voice. The voice that I could've sworn I would _never_ hear again. A voice that carried me through some of the hardest times in my life, soothed me when I was feeling depressed, chided me when I needed it, and was the _most beautiful_ sound all throughout my childhood. My heart seems to stop and I am instantly filled with fear, this must be some cruel twist of fate. I must be hearing things, _I must!_

"His name is Vali Lokison." Her sweet voice is like music to my ears yet at the same time it fills me with fear and uncertainty. Is this truly reality?

I tense up in my fear and uncertainty, still embracing the boy . . . Vali? I slowly let go if him and he gives me a worried and troubled expression. I slowly scoot back so that I am still next to him but this time sitting up. Slowly I look up and . . . it's her.

I blink rapidly and shake my head to clear it. The painkillers must be getting to my head and making me hallucinate. I lift my hands up and rub my eyes; I can't _believe_ it's her! I feel her soft hands gently grip both of mine. I feel her sit down on my bed next to me quietly and she slowly removes my hands from my eyes. Any minute now and I'll wake up . . . right? I stare up into her soft blue eyes. Love, gentleness, caring, that twinkle, everything in her eyes is the same, everything, that is, except the deep seated sadness. I don't understand why she has that sadness.

Grief crashes down on me as I think of her death, her note telling me that she wanted to make it easier for me, I remember all the good times we had together and then how everything seemed to come crashing down on me as I saw her lifeless body being taken away. _If this is a dream, then it is a very cruel one, cruel because, when I wake up, I will know that now of this is even __**remotely**_ _ possible!_ I begin to cry.

"Oh! No, no, no, no, no, no!" She cries out when I start to cry. She quickly pulls me to her into a gently and soothing embrace. "No, Loki," she says soothingly, "no, please, calm down, baby, please." She whispers softly and soothingly as she gently rocks me.

I wrap my arms around her and bury my face into her neck. _This is all just a cruel, __**cruel**__ dream!_ I think to myself as I sob. This is probably worse than any nightmare I've ever had!

She holds me tight, trying to calm me down, but I will not be calmed down.

"Ow!" I let out, it is muffled but the pain is very real. I loosen my arms around her and lean back, looking at Vali with eyes, narrowed in confusion.

He smiles sheepishly. "That hurt?"

I nod, not understanding. "Yes. Why did you do that?"

He pinches my bruise again and I suppress a yell of pain. I look at him, this time, with eyes narrowed in warning. He just smiles at me more. "Still dreaming?" He asks me and my expression clears up into one of understanding.

"Oh. . . ."

He chuckles and nods his head. "'Pinch me I must be dreaming.'" He quotes in a falsely disbelieving voice. "You think you are dreaming, so I pinched you. Not a cruel dream now is it?"

I smile as the tears quickly dry on my face and I understand now. He pinched the bruise on my arm for the pain, to let me know if it is reality or a cruel dream. I smile more as I feel his presence in my mind; _he_ was the one who kept trying to wake me up! I am filled with feelings of a wondrous joy and I bear-hug Sigyn, surprising her greatly.

"My love!" I cry out in a choked voice as I clutch her to me tightly, but not tight enough to hurt her. She hugs me back just as tightly as I hiccup. _Shit._ I hear her giggle a little and decide that they aren't _too_ bad.

I hiccup again as I feel a cool hand touch my bruise gently. It is healed almost instantly and I turn my head so that it is resting on Sigyn's shoulder as I look over at Vali. He smiles at me and lets his hand drop from my arm. There's a twinkle in his eyes now, one that hadn't been there before, and I hold out an arm for him.

He leans forward and wraps his arms around Sigyn and I. Sigyn lifts her head from my shoulder and smiles at him. We both wrap an arm around him, pulling him into a group hug. I feel like I am about to burst with joy and happiness as Sigyn gently kisses him on the head then me on the cheek. I grin joyfully. I still can barely believe it and have no hope of figuring it all out, but I am glad all the same that it has happened. She has returned to me with another child of mine and Fenrir's true parentage has been revealed to me.

She gives an apologetic look and kisses me on the cheek again. "There's something I need to do before I explain." She murmurs softly against my cheek before pressing another kiss to it. She leans back slightly and looks for my response

I nod a little and lean forward a little, kissing her on the lips. She smiles against my lips and kisses me back. I don't think I could feel any more joy or happiness. She breaks the kiss and I smile up at her with overjoyed eyes as she chuckles a little. "I love you, Loki." She says gently as she stands up.

I grin. "I love you too Sigyn."

Vali is small, like Fenrir, I notice as I look back over at him. I scoot over to the far side of the bed and pat the empty side as I look at him. Excitement is clear as daylight in his eyes as they are lit up with joy and excitement. He climbs up and sits down next to me in the small space. Both of us are thin enough to fit side by side comfortably in the hospital bed, surprisingly enough.

He gently leans against me and I wrap an arm around him, resting my head gently against the top of his. He wraps his arms around me gently and I feel the warmth of him healing me and I grin. _Dad's little helper._ I think with a small chuckle.

I look up and see Thor standing there, watching the whole little reunion, and I instantly feel guilty. He walks up to my bed and smiles at me. "It is good to see you awake, Loki." I wonder if he has given up on convincing me that we are brothers despite our blood and I feel even _more_ guilt.

I give him a small, slightly apologetic, slightly melancholy, and completely guilty, smile. "I'm sorry." I tell him quietly, and he gives me a confused look. Even though he might not be the brightest, I feel confident that he will understand perfectly. "I am so sorry, truly, I am. I am sorry for everything, _brother_." I emphasis the last word, so that he will understand my meaning more clearly. How idiotic I have been, rejecting him, Odin, and Frigga. I have betrayed them horribly and it took a small boy and his adopted father, both in a hospital room, both broken in a different way, for me to understand that.

A huge grin covers his face as he understands my meaning. _I am sorry for betraying you in rejecting you as the brother that you truly are to me._ He steps forward and embraces me in a huge hug. I hug the big oaf back with a small smile on my face. "I forgive you, brother. As will our father, I am sure of it." He lets go of me and looks me in the eyes. "You are truly sorry for that as well, right, brother?"

I nod my head, feeling remorseful. Odin raised me and I rejected him like a spoiled brat. "Next time you see him, if you will, _please_, tell him that I ask forgiveness?" I whisper with remorse and sorrow. I truly am sorry for what I have done.

He nods his head. "Of course, brother. I will tell him that you seek his forgiveness and I am more than sure that he will give it to you too. Though I doubt that your banishment will end soon, sadly."

I shake my head. "It is fine, brother. All I seek is his forgiveness."

"You were banished, Father? Why?" I look down at Vali upon hearing his young voice and smile sadly down at him.

"Because I did something stupid and unforgivable." I say quietly as I realize just how stupid of me it was to try to destroy my own people. To try and destroy Jotunheim. It is an unforgivable act, attempting to destroy an entire race, yet I did it. It hits me that, because Laufey was my blood father, I am technically the prince of Jotunheim, the proper heir to the throne there. I tried to destroy the race that I should be king of. . . . Wow. . . .

"The All-Father will probably lift the banishment in no time, Little One." Thor says with a smile towards Vali. "There is no need for too much worry."

I smile a little at that and look over at Sigyn. I see her hugging Fenrir and whispering in his ear, but I cannot hear what. She looks over at me, upset written all over her face and guilt deep within her eyes. She hugs Fenrir tighter and sees to give up on convincing him of whatever it was she was trying to convince him of.

"Fenrir? Fenrir Stark?" I ask tentatively. He turns around slowly and looks at me with dead eyes. I swallow hard. "We are related by blood, because of that, you should have the magic to heal him. . . . You can _save_ him, Fenrir, _you_ can. _You_ can _heal_ your father."

He sits there for awhile, eyes drifting to the side and I see the wheels turning as he processes and thinks about what I have told him. He hums slightly, thoughtfully, and his eyes seem to gain _some_ emotion, but very little. He slowly turns back to Tony and places a hand over Tony's reactor. A hush falls over the room as we watch. Carefully I enter Fenrir's mind. _I'm only here to help guide you._ I tell him.

He seems a little annoyed by my presence but consents. I guide him through the process and then, this time, I break the bond correctly. He heals his father, slowly but surely, and a small smile plays at the corners of his mouth when he looks back at me. He turns back in not too much longer later all of Tony's vitals, according to the machines, have returned to normal.

I smile as Tony starts to shift around a bit, glad that Fenrir succeeded in healing him correctly. I frown. Black spots enter the edges of my vision as Tony slowly opens his eyes.

"Daddy?" I hear Fenrir breathe out in amazement.

Tony turns his head and grins at him. "Hey, Sport." He says, his voice filled with amusement.

Fenrir practically launches himself at him and now I feel a little dizzy. _What the __**hell **__is wrong with me?_

A laugh escapes Fenrir as he clutches his dad to him tightly. The black spots seem to get bigger and increase in amount as I feel dizzier and now nauseous. My throat feels dry and constricted, I feel like I can't breathe.

Sigyn puts a hand on Fenrir's back gently and says something to him right as a high-pitched ringing noise fills my ear. The room starts to spin, blackness begins to take my vision, I feel nauseous, dizzy, the ringing increases in volume, and I hear a scream from behind me as I quickly blackout. "_**DADDY!**_"

Now I am spiralling into nothingness. I scream for help but it is no use. I land with a loud "ouf!" and then a groan. I arch up in pain from my landing and roll a bit, feeling sheets. I roll right off the bed and land on my stomach with a cry of surprise and pain. My eyes water as my back burns with pain. I hear footsteps as lights seem to turn on. My brain does not register the steel walls as I hear people shouting, some letting out "whoops," and I also hear the sound of quickly moving footsteps. Black boots enter my vision as my brain registers the steel walls.

The black boots roll me onto my back and I look up into the face of Thanos, high above me. "Finally." He rumbles happily.

_Why me?_


	21. Day One: Water, Wolf, Piranhas

Wow! Over 10,870 views and right at 74 reviews! :D

Oh, and I apologize ahead of time to those who have read the comics and/or know Thanos really well. I introduced myself to Marvel when I watched Iron Man for the first time. I do not know anything about Thanos beyond what I have been informed of by a friend of mine so; he will probably be quite a bit AU. Sorry.

Don't you hate it when you do a project early first time and then find out that you did it wrong? I do.

Obnoxious: I Google Dire Wolves and get two very different heights at the shoulder; either 3 ft or 5ft! . The rest is based on fact.

_**CHAPTER WARNING: TORTURE**_

* * *

**3****rd**** Person**

_Unknown location – 8:15 A.M._

Loki had seen this coming. He had seen it coming for months now. Why Thanos hadn't gone after him earlier, he didn't know. But he had a feeling he would find out soon enough as said villain dragged him down the hall by one leg. Loki's leg really hurts, so does his back, and his head, and pretty much everything else. He leans his head up and sees another corner and groans inwardly. _Damn corners._

Thanos rounds the corner and makes sure Loki hits the wall just as hard as every other time. Loki tries hard not to groan in pain as he hits the wall. He leans his head back up once more and this time sees a double door up ahead with two guards at it. The guards open the doors, letting Thanos in, and let the close just right so that both of them hit Loki in the head. They are _not_ light doors, as Loki discovers with a barely suppressed shout of pain.

His eyes are closed tight around the pain as he is dragged down a few steps. _Bump. Bump. Bump._ His eyes water but still he fights it. He will not let Thanos win.

He opens his eyes quickly when he is suddenly jolted up off the floor by Thanos. Said villain gruffly commands a few other aliens to quickly chain Loki up by his feet. All the blood rushes to Loki's head, making him feel nauseous and dizzy as he just dangles there limply. They quickly chain him and Thanos lets go. He feels it as the machines start to make noise and he is jolted once more, being moved from one point to another.

Loki looks around as his head starts to pound from the pain. He tilts his head back and sees that he is above water. He looks back at Thanos over on the platform and is given a smirk. Frowning, Loki wonders what he is in store for; he knows that he won't like it no matter what it is. Thanos looks over at some alien at a control box looking thing and gives a signal. Suddenly, Loki drops into the water.

* * *

_Avengers Tower – 9:32 A.M._

A hush fell over the room as everyone just stares at the empty bed and chair. Vali grabbed onto Loki as the red light had quickly encased Loki entirely and, consequently, Vali. Now both of them are gone. Fenrir stares at the place where his father and twin brother once had been with a quiet rage written into his face; he is tired of all the shit that he has endured so far. Sigyn stares, feeling sad and hopeless; why must she lose Loki so soon? Thor is just stunned. Tony quickly gets up and starts to put his under shirt and button up back on.

"Jarvis." Tony says quickly as he does up the buttons on his black button up. "Jarvis!" He barks, feeling a sense of dread. He runs over to the blue panel. All eyes are on him now as he begins to rapidly punch buttons on the console. "Shit." He quietly curses. "Don't you ever say that word, got it?" He says, turning around and pointing at Fenrir who gives him a small smile. He turns back real quick and continues punching in buttons. "Thank you." He says quietly a few moments later.

"For -?"

"For healing me." Tony says as he goes back to punching in buttons.

"What's wrong?" Thor asks as he comes up to stand next to the older Stark member.

"Jarvis has been taken off-line. Narvi must have tripped Protocol Reindeer Games." Tony replies swiftly.

"What's that?"

"Protocol that I created in case Loki ever decided to escape using magic. An alarm goes off, a partial lockdown in initiated, and the magic is traced immediately. The alarm is restricted to the Avengers areas only and is not heard inside the medical ward. In case Jarvis was compromised I designed any and all protocols to shut him down if he tried to turn them off without my voice telling him to. He must've tried turning it off because. . . ." Tony trails off as his fingers slow to a stop.

"Because?" Fenrir prompts.

Tony looks up at Thor. "Where's Bruce?"

Fenrir's face pales.

Thor gives him a confused look. "He was up in the common room when I showed up, wait, where are you going?"

Tony is out the door in less than a second and Fenrir jumps up and chases after his father. "Dad! Wait!" Fenrir shouts, chasing him.

"Go back in there, Fenrir!" Tony orders him, still walking.

"But . . . Jarvis-!"

"Won't be on in time." Tony interrupts swiftly.

"Well, I'm not letting you go up there with the Hulk by yourself!" He shouts after him.

Tony spins around, feeling extremely protective. He opens his mouth to say something and raises a finger but is interrupted by a shrill scream followed by the roar of the Hulk.

Fenrir quickly changes into his wolf form and it hits Tony just how damn _big_ the Wolf is. He sees that Fenrir is easily 4 feet at the shoulder if not higher. He lifts his lips in a snarl and Tony is startled by how _huge_ the teeth are. He's no wolf expert but he's pretty sure that the teeth are bigger than that of a normal wolf's. He sees that the Wolf is about five feet in length including an approximately two feet long tail.

Tony sees Thor come out of the room and he turns back around. Thor comes up to Tony's left and the Wolf joins Tony on his right. Fenrir is no longer Tony's son; he is now an Alpha wolf and the last of his kind.

A little girl whom Tony remembers to be Night comes screaming down the hallway, running around the corner and over to the heroes. Her scream stops as she pants her way past them, still running as fast as she can, and screams once she is near the next corner. They hear the destructive sounds of Hulk making his way to them.

It occurs to Tony that he is in for a world of pain if he doesn't move. He hopes _so_ much that Thor and the Wolf are enough to stop the Hulk's rampage but he's not about to put money on it. Tony without his suit is not even _close_ to a match for the Hulk and so said billionaire turns around and begins to run down the hallway, back to Sigyn. He hears the Hulk roar after him. It does not occur to Tony that the Hulk is pissed off at him and doesn't really care for the others.

"Banner! We are your _friends_, we mean you _no_ harm!" Thor tries to reason with the guy. "Please, Banner, relax, we need your help."

The Wolf snarls at the Big Guy and allows Fenrir to speak through him. "Punch him in a round of friendly boxing, Banner, but not in this form, not while he is unarmed and unprotected. See reason else this end in _death_."

"_BANNER!_"

The Hulk turns around at the sound of the voice to see Hawkeye aiming an arrow at him, Captain America holding his shield up protectively but low enough to speak directly, and Black Widow aiming two guns at him.

"Relax, Banner, don't want to make a mess now." Natasha says quietly with a warning edge.

The Hulk snarls at them. "Banner. Relax." Cap commands.

Banner wrestles with the Big Guy, trying to get him to not attack their friends, their teammates.

Everything is silent as the Wolf speaks. "Down." The rumbling voice sends chills down _everyone's_ spine, _including_ the Hulk's. The voice speaks of an unexpressed rage, it speaks of trails filled with blood and death, of scars given and gained, it speaks of a warning that is _always_ backed, and a strengthen and skill that can not only match the Hulk's but _defeat_ him as well. It sends the same chills that the roar of the Hulk sent through unarmed Tony. It also fills them with the same fear that Black Widow felt when the Hulk nearly smashed her; the fear of a pain-filled death. The Wolf's voice promised that type of death.

Everyone just stares at him and Banner slowly changes back with his hands raised in surrender. Hawkeye and Black Widow both had slowly lowly lowered their weapons while Thor slowly put down his hammer. The voice of the Wolf had put everyone in a slight trance.

"Clothes." He rumbles once more when he has everyone's undivided attention. Black Widow throws Banner a change of clothes and he quickly pulls them on while trying to be as modest as possible. "Good." He rumbles happily and everyone is filled with an uneasy happiness.

The Wolf turns back around and pads over to the room with Tony and Sigyn. What Fenrir does not know is that it was never Sigyn's fault, his twisted fate of being born in the wrong body. The Wolf knows that it was Vali's magic that switched him and Fenrir before their magically jointed birth. They were always together like this, but it was Vali who stuck Fenrir in the Wolf's body and stuck the Wolf in Fenrir's frail human body. It was why Fenrir was born a wolf. Only the Wolf fixed it later on with his magic, not someone else.

Fenrir never knew it was the Wolf who switched them back, never knew why they had been messed up in the first place, and never knew that the Wolf pitted him. It was the Wolf who took mercy on Fenrir. He connected their minds and raised Fenrir by thought. He switched Fenrir and his minds only when they were in danger. He returned them to the original mix-up feeling that it would be safer for Fenrir afterwards. If anyone had been a father to Fenrir for the past 12 years it was the Wolf. He kept Fenrir in the Wolf's body for safety, taught him everything magic and instinct taught the Wolf, protected him through danger, and cared for him in the beginning before S.H.I.E.L.D. found him. He had only ever wanted the best for his human companion.

However, whenever Vali was around Fenrir, the Wolf became protective and angry with Vali, he knew that Vali had known all this time. Vali switched them, creating the hell that Fenrir grew up with, and _knew it!_ It angered the Wolf to no end. He didn't know where Vali disappeared off to, didn't care, his only wish is that Vali finally gets what he deserves. Attachment to Fenrir is the only reason why the Wolf hasn't given it to Vali himself.

He silently pads up to Sigyn and jumps up onto the hospital bed next to her. She stares back at him with fear deep within her eyes. She had only ever feared what Fenrir would become and now that she sees it, she is deathly afraid. The Wolf sits down on the bed gently and curls his slightly long but still, ever-so-bushy, bushy tail up around his feet. He stares down Sigyn before she looks away and then turns his gaze to Tony.

Tony approaches the huge, black, furry wolf cautiously. "Fenrir?" He asks a little sceptically. He can tell from the air of the wolf and the way that it acts and sits that it is not Fenrir, it is something else, but he knows not what. The green eyes, however, are very obviously Fenrir's.

"'The eyes have it.'" The Wolf quotes in his rumbling, fear-me-type voice, meaning that the eyes are what will tell Tony whether or not it is still his son.

Tony feels a sense of fear itch up his spine and a chill fill him but he approaches still, feeling like he has nothing to fear, that it is merely the magic at work in the voice of this strange wolf. "Who are you?" He is surprised by how confident his voice sounds.

"I am called many things." He rumbles. "The Wolf is the most common of them. Fenrir likes to keep it in his name so that people know that it is he who harbours me. _I_ taught him that." He emphasis the 'I' with pride and puffs his chest out a little more. "My real name, however, is a secret that is kept solely between those that we agree upon as family."

"Who all is on that list?"

"Currently, we are the only two who know." He rumbles dangerously, misinterpreting the question.

Now Tony stops, feeling a much deeper fear and this time sensing a certain kind of danger. "Hey, relax," he says soothingly with his hands up, "I only wanted to know who all family to the both of you is. If your name means that much to you then I do not need to go looking for it and so I won't."

He relaxes a little and studies Tony for a moment.

"I only wish to know if my son is okay . . . the Wolf." Tony says, feeling a little weird because of the strangeness of the nickname.

The Wolf lowers his head. "Small One is fine." He says quickly.

Tony nods his head. "Can I call you something else? Like just 'Wolf' or Dire? As in dire wolf or dire consequences, because you most certainly are both."

The Wolf becomes agitated. He lowers his head threateningly and growls warningly, he takes a step forward, his hackles raised, and his lips curl up into a snarl. Tony refuses to backup. "I am _not_ a dire wolf! I am an Alpha! The last of my kind! I am a wolf from Asgard who absolutely _refuses_ to be connected with _any_ of Midgard's simple-minded, magic lacking, weakened excuse for a wolf, wolves!" He snarls and snaps at Tony this declaration.

"Hey, hey, take it easy." Tony says quietly and gently; keeping his hands up in surrender. He slowly approaches the Wolf despite the fear throughout his being; this is his son, another part of him, yes, but still him, and he will not be afraid of him. He knew that he had been foolish, thinking that Fenrir favoured Loki, he had realized that Fenrir only treated Loki like a brother, not like a father. Fenrir loved him, he had been stupid to accuse Fenrir of _anything_ else through his thoughts before he had passed out. (He still doesn't know why or how he had been hurt.) He is Fenrir's true father, _Dammit_, and he will _not_ show him fear! "I didn't mean to offend you, I didn't know, I didn't realize. I'm sorry if I deeply offended you, it was never my goal, honest."

He comes up beside the Wolf and stares him in the eyes. The Wolf narrows his eyes and they gain a challenging edge, but if Tony has to prove himself to this hard headed wolf then he will. He does not back down, does not look away, he only straightens up a little more and continues to stare right into the green eyes of this wolf. The minutes drag on and on before the Wolf consents and his eyes soften. He looks down in shame and defeat, the rest of him speaking it, and Tony suppresses a sigh of relief. He had been so rooted with fear. The only reason he had even been level with the Wolf was because the Wolf had been so crouched down. He knew that the Wolf could easily take him down without his suit. He'd put money on that.

The Wolf nudges Tony playfully, his tail wagging, and his eyes asking for forgiveness. Tony chuckles at this unexpected sign of affection and scratches the Wolf's head behind his ears. "Yes?"

The Wolf grins and keeps nudging Tony playfully, even licking him on the side of the jaw. Tony laughs a little and messes up the Wolf's fur on top of his head, not really knowing any other way to mess around with the huge wolf. "Come on," he says with a smile, "we need to call the others into a meeting upstairs."

The Wolf nods his head in response. "Let's go."

* * *

_Unknown Location – 10:27 P.M._

First the day started with being dropped into a tank of water, him struggling to the top, swimming to the edge and painfully smacking his head against the floor as he is unexpectedly yanked back up. Loki fell for it one more time before he didn't even swim to the edge. That's when the piranhas had been released into the water. Then he spent the next 30 minutes swimming to the edge, trying to climb out, being kicked back in by Thanos, and being bitten by the vicious little fish. He started trying to throw them out but they just kept on getting kicked back in by various people, though that didn't stop him from throwing them out. After the 30 minutes they stopped throwing and kicking them back in and eventually Loki got everyone of them out. He was exhausted from the exercise but that was only the beginning.

The next exercise was immediate. Loki was near the edge already so Thanos just walked over to him. He had knelt down and pushed Loki under the water, holding him under for a few minutes and them pulling him back up. Loki had gasped for air desperately, his lungs burning, and then Thanos pushed him back under mercilessly before Loki fully recovered his breath. He tried desperately to thrash and struggle his way out of Thanos' grip, but he never succeeded. Thanos stopped when Loki had passed out.

He had been rudely awakened back up mere moments later by a splash of nearly frozen water to the face. He gasped and coughed, trying to get rid of all the water in his system and regain his breath as he once again hung upside down by the legs. It wasn't easy.

Thanos sprayed him with a very powerful, painful hose and freezing cold water. It chilled Loki to the bone and most of it was aimed at his face, once again making him choke on water.

"Why are you living with the Avengers?" Thanos began to ask Loki questions.

"Because they don't trust me!" Loki shouted around a mouthful of water.

"Yet you seem to have so much freedom with them. They seem to trust you."

"If they do then it's because of Fenrir! Not me!"

Thanos had ignored this. "Did you fail me on purpose, Loki?"

"No!" He shouted and then sputtered as the spray was once again lowered to his face.

"You see, Loki, if you look at from my perspective, it seems that way. You fail and then you are taken into their building, into their care, and they appear to trust you, they seem to care for you, even. To me it looks like you are _friends_ with them, and that you _failed_ me on _purpose_ because they are your _friends_." He rumbled threateningly.

Loki's dropped back down into the now freezing water.

"Turn up the temperature, scald him." Thanos commanded after that. Loki had emerged to the top and looks around. It had not escaped Thanos' attention that the cold water only turned Loki into his Frost Giant blue colour.

It had only gotten worse and more creative from there. Needless to say; Loki went through a _lot_ of pain-filled torture exercises. Now he is tossed back into the vault-like cage. He groans from the pain. He is exhausted and everything burns and aches but he still manages to roll over onto his back. He lies there, letting out a sound of pain, just wanting to get out of here. He stares up at the ceiling for a little while, willing himself to get up.

He manages to get up a few moments later with a couple of pain filled groans, moans, and grunts. He stands up, feeling dizzy, nauseous, and woozy. He stumbles his way over to his cot. It does not register in his brain that the room is different, that is has a small cot with the thinnest mattress on it, a small sink, a tiny shower, and a toilet as opposed to the original hospital-style theme of furniture. He slips into a deep sleep before all this has time to register. He dreads the next day and hopes with every fibber of his being that the Avengers come and rescue him soon.

_Come Rescue Me._

* * *

Last line; original title for this chapter. Randomly got the idea of "Day One" so I do not know how long until the Avengers find and rescue him, sorry. Probably at least a week. If you do not like torture, I apologize. It's kind of a study for me right now. Torture study instead of character study, yes. :P

Some PTSD Loki promised at the end of all this, though. :P


	22. Day Two: Fire, Fury, Tears

Fear not, readers! For I have NOT forgotten all of you!

I blame . . . Oomara13 . . . because I can and because she's in my German class. (That and because she's younger than me!) XD JK

Damn ctrl button does not work. . Neither of them! This is frustrating because they aid in the streaming of switching between bold, italics, and regular. T.T

Never mind, it just doesn't for italics. . . . -_-"

* * *

_**CHAPTER WARNING: TORTURE**_

**3rd Person**

_Unknown Location – 2:45 A.M._

Loki lays there and thinks about another painful time in his life, a time when love only hurt him. He had been deeply in love with someone whom he _knew_ for a pain filled _fact_ would never love him back. The pain of loving them and knowing that they could never be together had torn him apart so horribly. She had been his best friend at the time, his _only_ friend, if he was to be completely honest, and she knew he loved her.

For _years_ all Loki felt was an immense depression brought on by his feelings of loneliness. He brought it upon himself, really. He knew, deep in his heart, that nothing would or could ever happen between them, but, his mind rebelled against him and nursed a faint hope of it. All he got in result was a feeling of loneliness. He got it into his mind, because she was the first and only person he had ever loved this way; that he would be lonely for the rest of his life; that no one would ever be there for him.

It hurts him now, when he thinks back to it, because he realizes that no one knew he had even _felt_ depressed, let alone that he had been. He had always been a bit anti social, preferring solitude to others' company, and never really talked to anyone else to begin with. He had always dabbled with magic, and no one was surprised or saw it as out of the ordinary when he practically threw himself into studies of it to distract his mind from painful thoughts and false hope. But it was mostly the fact that his auto pilot, which he had pretty much switched on permanently while around people, was still able to laugh, smile, and get his eyes to match it, even if he felt dead inside.

He thinks about her now, as he lies there so early in the morning (though he does not realize the time,) because he remembers how she introduced him to Sigyn, after he accidently let it slip out that he felt lonely, and how his life turned around after that.

He closes his eyes on the pain of finding his long lost love, only to be ripped away from her mere moments later. Hot tears roll down his cheek and he does not even remember when he first started to cry; only that he has been for quite some time now. He lies there and silently cries, wishing, not for the first time in his life, that he weren't so lonely.

He thinks about Tony, how the obnoxious genius seemed to be becoming a bit like a brother to him. He thinks about Sigyn, how much he missed her and how, just like before he met her, he could not bring himself to end his life despite his wanting to or his almost constant thoughts to. He also thinks about how wonderfully elated he had been to find her again only to have the immense crushing feeling of despair to lose her once again. He then thinks about Fenrir and Vali, the two boys he never wanted because of Narvi. He thinks of how much Vali and Narvi are alike in personalities, and how different from them Fenrir is. _Fenrir_, _his_ son, the son that Tony took in for bad reasons, the son that had adopted Tony into his heart as much as Tony adopted him into his own heart. The two cared for each other more deeply than they had ever cared for anyone else and Loki can see that. He does not mind or feel awful about his own son having more of a father in Tony than in him, in fact, he actually likes it. He is glad that Fenrir is happy and has a father that he truly cares about and whom truly cares about him.

Loki smiles faintly at the thought of Tony and Fenrir being a happy little family. The word family makes him feel sad and his smile falters. A feeling of loneliness overcomes him and he crumbles inside. He cries silently until he once more falls asleep.

_Why me?_

* * *

_Unknown Location – 8:15 A.M._

This time is different, Loki can tell before it even starts. He's taken to a different room and even the guards outside the room are different. Nothing is the same, not who got him, how they brought him, the guards they see, the room they go to, nothing is the same.

Heat rolls out in waves when they open the doors. _Shit._ Loki has never been too big of a fan of heat (see parentage, heritage, ancestry, birthplace, etc.) He struggles once more against the secure chains, _not the heat, please!_ He's pretty sure it's because of his involuntary reaction to the hot water yesterday and the fact that cold water only turned him blue. _Stupid involuntary reactions_, he thinks to himself as he is tries to keep up with the shorter male in front of him, leading him by leash attached to collar around his neck.

_Damn this accursed place, damn _it, is all that Loki can think as he is led over to Thanos once more. Deep down inside part of him still hopes for a rescue, it's only been two days after all, but most of him is almost ready to quit. He blames it all on this morning while part of him, the part ready to quit, hopes that he will die today.

Loki is quickly chained up so tightly that he couldn't move even a _fraction_ of an inch if he tried. His back is fully exposed, though, and he quickly realizes why when he sees Thanos walk over to what resembles a blacksmith's work area and takes out a brander out of coals so hot they are blue on the inside of the flames. Loki sees too many branders to count and as Thanos walks over to him, evil gleam in his eyes matching the expression on his face, he realizes that each one is a letter in the Old Norse alphabet. Thanos brands him with the first letter on his back and the blinding pain is too much for Loki; he quickly loses track of the letters. Loki cries, hot, wet tears, as he screams in pain, it is too much for him to handle, and too much for his body to allow him to let go and faint.

Loki is far too gone from the blinding hot pain, otherwise, he might've sworn to have heard a wolf's pained and enraged howl in the distance.

* * *

_Avengers Tower – 5:23 P.M._

They all sit in complete and utter silence around the table on the Hellicarrier in the bridge as Fury paces around, fuming, in front of them. No one says a word to him; they just keep their eyes locked on him, waiting for what is to come next. He eventually walks back over to the table, sets his hands down on it, and looks up at them.

"How, the _**hell**__, _did you lose _Loki_ and his _son_, again?" Fury says, deadly quite. Everyone can tell that he is _**way**_ too angry to be able to convey it through tone of voice so he settled for deathly calm. And that's what scares them the most.

"Magic," is all that Steve dares to whisper.

Fury purses his lips together so much so that Natasha could _swear_ they turned white. Clint just swears that he could hear Fury's teeth crack he must've been clenching together his jaw so hard.

Tony is too smart to try to lighten the tension right now so he stays quite. Unfortunately, Fate seems to have a different plan for him today.

Fury turns to Tony. "Stark?" Chills run up the Avengers' spines at the sound of Fury's tone. _Shit, just, __**shit**__._ "Tell me, how come they _escaped_ by _magic_?" The _venom_ dripping off of those two little words is almost _visible_, and it scares. Them. _Senseless._ Today, **no one** messes with Director Nick Fury.

Tony chooses his words carefully. "Because, someone, with more power than Loki, kidnapped them." He says in a hushed tone of voice.

"Kidnapped them? Kidnapped?" Fury sounds just like he did when he was asking Tony, incredulously, about Rhodey 'stealing' his suit.

Tony nods his head.

"It's true, sir."

_Thank God for Natasha Romanov!_

Fury frowns as his brow furrows and his eyebrows knit together. "And just _how_ do you know this, Agent Romanoff, Stark?"

"Because," she states simply, looking up at him, "Loki's magic is green, not red."

"Well, that, and I couldn't track it, and I can track Loki's magic. Plus JARVIS reported Vali's magic to be blue." Tony adds. Stupidly.

Fury give s him a death glare, but it seems to have been toned down from completely unreasonable to closer to normal (his anger, I mean.)

"Agent Romanov, tell me, then, just _who,_ took, him?" He fixes her with a demanding look and she shifts a little in her seat.

"He once mentioned something about someone named Thanos being highly interested in making him rue his failure in capturing the Tesseract and taking over Earth."

Fury lets go a heavy sigh and wishes, only for a moment, that he had seen this coming sooner. "Then let's find him."

* * *

_Unknown Location – 10:27 P.M._

First the day had started out with the branding. He still does not know what was branded onto his back, only that it was a lot and that water was splashed into his face whenever he passed out. He hated that exercise. It was more brutally demanding, physically, mentally, psychologically, than any of the previous ones. And it took absolutely _**FOREVER!**_

Next, is not so bad. At first. He was taken to a different room that time. It had been cold, ever so cold, and there was snow everywhere. Loki's bare skin – he had been stark naked the entire exercise preceding – turned blue, once more, and his back even felt some relief from it, but then, he realized that that was just another hell.

A familiar, all too familiar, black furred wolf was running, top speed, past their lookout point up high. They could see everything from up there and watched as the wolf, Fenrir, ran into the trees.

"Let me show you what your youngest son, the last one born out of the two twins, faced while he grew up. You will watch as he does, now, in his sleep." Thanos rumbled; hand tight on Loki's shoulder. "And yes, we are now in his mind, did you really think that it was just your mind conjuring up all those nightmares in the past?" The laughter in his voice was so evident it made Loki sick, but he refused to let it show, though he couldn't stop the colour from draining from his face. Thanos' rumbling laughter carried and echoed. Loki wished that it would stop.

It only got worse from there as Thanos forced Loki to watch Fenrir get chased after by poachers, then switched to another memory where he was pretty much abandoned – accidently, albeit – by Sigyn. Loki saw everything and was a tearful wreck by the time it was done. Fenrir had gone through everything to anything. A through Z; abuse to rape to zealous poachers chasing him around; _**everything**_. Loki had long since broken, and Thanos hadn't even shown him the 'good stuff.'

Loki doesn't even realize that he had been taken away until he is tossed onto his hard bed. He curls up in on himself and cries harder than he has ever cried before, all he wants to do is die, right now, he doesn't know how Thanos did it but Loki felt all of Fenrir's emotions during those memories, heard all of his thoughts, felt what he felt, saw what he saw, and even saw it from an outsider's perspective, like in the beginning. Thanos made Loki break, and Loki knew just as well as any of the others here that Thanos had barely even begun.

Loki tries not to think about that. In fact, Loki tries not to think about anything. But, once again, he finds himself dreading the next day and hoping with every fibber of his being that the Avengers come and rescue him soon.

_Come Rescue Me._

* * *

Sorry it has taken sooo long to update! (Writer's block and Fishy's fault! JK Fishy.)

REVIEWS! Please! They help with motivation!

And I was feeling a little morbid today; luckily, I used it to my advantage and managed to pull myself out of my long ass case of writer's block! :D


	23. Day Three Pt 1: Found, Fenrir, Magic

I just realized something. And I feel stupid because it pertains to this story . . . which I am writing . . . and . . . apparently . . . not keeping very good track of. -_-#

_**CHAPTER WARNINGS: TORTURE**_

_** MENTIONS OF RAPE**_

_** IMPLIED CHILD RAPE**_

* * *

**1****st**** Person - Loki**

_Unknown Location - 3:07 A.M._

"_When we have a fear of death, what are we afraid of for real; our death, or the death of others? For you see, when we have a sense of ethics and a form of humility, but no self-preservation, we latch onto others and fear their deaths. The death of others ends up hitting us the hardest for we find ourselves deeply overwhelmed with a sense of loss so much so that we pretty much all but shut down. We basically gain a sense of, if not a real case of, PTSD. This is because of our fear of not our own death, but rather, a fear of the death of others._" My newly developed half, a response to, or a buffer, I guess, against Thanos' torture, reasons with me. Thinking back on it, I come to realise that some of what it says is true. I guess I had been looking at everything the wrong way. _Boy do I feel dumb._

Thanos revealed to me, before I was returned to my room, that part of my attack on Earth had been him controlling me just as I had been controlling Hawkeye and the others. He had said that it hadn't taken too much control which is why my eyes never fully changed to blue and instead were mostly blue-green. As for why I never realised it, well, that was easy to guess for me. I had gone insane in the abyss so much so that I lost more than just my mind, I also lost a sense of who I was, what I was like, and everything in between my sanity and my identity, "_a box of cats_."

How _awful _it is, to find out that you are not who you are. Possibly, in some lights, worse than having someone play, "pull you out and stick something else in," how awful indeed it is, then. The worst part about it the fact of not even having _known_ that you were not your normal self. _Sigh._ _Sometimes one just_ _**can, not, win!**_

For some reason, my mind wanders over to Thor, Odin, and everything that happened. For the next hour or so I slowly deconstruct it all, taking apart every little thing, analyzing every event, seeing it from all angles, and, basically, sorting it all out; my thoughts, feelings, and emotions on what happened, it's affect on the others, and where to go from there; how to start making amends, if I should, what will happen to me now, etc. My mind completely skips over everything that has happened to me in the Avenger's Tower. Maybe that's why Fenrir never even crosses my mind.

* * *

**3****rd**** Person – Loki**

_Unknown Location – 8:15 A.M._

When Loki next wakes up . . . he feels different. . . . Stronger, happier, freer, if that even makes a lick of sense. He thinks about it and realizes why. The sense of freedom comes from a never before realized weight having been lifted off of him; the weight of his struggle with trying to achieve acceptance into his (adopted) family. It occurred to him that, while he may never be Thor's equal, he will probably always be accepted by him (Avenger's Tower happenings came back to him after awhile earlier on in the morning.) As for Odin, he might have had horrible reasons for taking Loki in, but at least he _did_ take him in, and Loki is grateful for that, life would've been a _**lot**_ worse if Odin had never token him in. Loki's new philosophy for life is that _it can __**always**__ be worse_. He thinks this to himself as Thanos' minions enter his chamber.

When he reaches the room he decides that he was most defiantly right. _It can __**always**__ be worse_. After all, they don't have Sigyn, Tony, Fenrir, or Thor.

* * *

**1****st**** Person - Tony**

_Avengers' Tower – 12:42 P.M._

I noticed something . . . off about Fenrir this morning. He looked worse than he had ever looked before, which is saying something considering that his brother and long lost father were both taken from him mere _minutes _after a bittersweet, tear-filled, heartfelt reunion. This morning was as if he had nightmares _all last night_, without ever having woken up.

I decide that Fenrir and I need to share a room tonight and so I files that away for later as I head into the kitchen. Fenrir is there, looking worse than death it's self. I frown at this and wave a hand in his face. "Hello? Earth to Fenrir Stark. You there, Fenrir?" I ask with concern.

He lowers his head a bit, snapping out of it slowly, and sighs heavily. It's a resigned yet pained sigh; like he's given up on something but still feeling hurt by it. This fills me with more concern and worry. I sit down next to him at the bar-like area of the kitchen.

"Hey," I start off softly and he turns his head towards me a little without actually looking at me now, "what's wrong? It seems like something more has come up to trouble you."

He leans against me heavily and I wrap my arms comfortingly around the 12 year old. Tears fill his resigned-yet-hurt voice. "I keep having these nightmares. First it was Vali, hurt, broken, and dying, lying in some dank, dark, and musty room, bleeding out on the dirty floor. Then it was of everything bad that has ever happened to me. And then, last night, I saw Vali again. He wasn't dying this time, he was healed, but he was being," his voice seems to catch and he barely manages to choke out the word in a whisper, "_beaten._" He turns his head and buries into me as the tears begin to fall and he starts to quietly sob into my shirt.

I hug him against me, tightly, "don't worry, Fen," a nickname Loki came up for him once, "we _will_ find them, both of them, and we _will_ save them. We _will_ avenge everything that has happened to them, and we will bring them back here, safe."

Fenrir just keeps on crying and I find myself actually a little glad that he is. Sometimes, a kid just needs to let it all out and cry; he hasn't done that yet, not until now, that it.

* * *

**3****rd**** Person – Loki**

_Unknown Location – 1:15 P.M._

Watching, in horror, magic bounded, Loki can't believe that _anyone_ could stand to commit such _atrocities_ against a _**child!**_ All Loki wants to do is look away, block it from view, make it _stop_, but . . . he can't. . . . Then . . . he realizes something. . . .

Loki attempts, and succeeds, in focusing deep within him and ignoring what is happening in front of him. He searches, deep down, and is delighted when he finds _exactly_ what he is looking for. But his excitement is deflated when nothing happens. He tries, repeatedly, and with several different ones but it is no use, his spells are not strong enough . . . or is it him that is too weak?

He concentrates hard and takes some energy from each minion holding him in place or working, not enough to be noticed by Thanos (who is looking at something over one of his minions shoulders, ignoring the situation) or any others, but enough to help try again. This time . . . this time he succeeds. The magical bonds that hold him tight loosen and so he changes his focus and drive to Vali. He has to save his son first before he can worry about freeing himself. As long as Vali escapes, he will be happy, if the guard rapes him instead in his anger over it, well . . . Loki can handle rape, he has before.

He pools together his magic and is about to release the spell that will launch the guard backwards when there is a sudden alarm going off. The guard swears, loudly, and gets up. Loki is startled by the alarm and he loses all control of his stolen energy and weakened magic. He is left staring at Vali who stares back with so much raw emotion in his eyes that Loki finds himself wanting to look away. He feels horrible about _everything_, he feels almost like the whole situation is somehow his fault even though he knows it isn't. He just wishes, desperately, that he could help him, that he can help save _his_ son.

_Fucking Avengers need to get on with the saving._ That _damned_ other side again!

Loki has begun to hate it.

Loud swearing catches his attention and he attempts to listen in. Vali tries to move around but barely shifts before his face contorts in unimaginable pain. Loki wishes he could just break down and die right now, the pain on his son's face . . . he can't take it much longer.

_**BBBOOOOOOMMM! **_Swearing, cussing, running; the room breaks into chaos as all hell breaks loose.

* * *

_To be continued . . ._

* * *

_RRREEEVVVIIIEEEWWW! PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE!_


End file.
